"I did a lot of squirming in my chair as I typed. Crying, too."

Award-winning author Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond on questioning internalized beliefs, writing on the razor's edge, and her fascinating new novel, MY PARENTS' MARRIAGE

Check out the collection of past Words With (Author) Friends, wherein I g-chat with an author and you get to read over my shoulder, and order Nana’s beautiful new novel, out now!

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Me: Huge congrats on MY PARENTS' MARRIAGE! How are you feeling post-release?

Nana: THANK YOU!

I’m feeling ecstatic!

It’s been a long road to this novel being out in the world and I’m thrilled to have it out of my head.

I know that feeling! Can you share what the book's about?

MY PARENTS’ MARRIAGE is about a young woman obsessed with the idea that her parents’ turbulent marriage has doomed her to know zero happiness in her future relationships. So she’s desperate to get as far away from her parents as possible to chart a new course for herself.

It’s set in Ghana where there are three types of marriage:
*Customary
*Mohammedan
*Ordinance

Customary and Mohammedan allow for polygyny (men taking multiple wives) while Ordinance is strictly monogamous.

It’s illegal for a man to have a Customary wife and an Ordinance wife, but many men of means have exploited the system to do just that.

Not only has it caused division and angst in many families as a result, legally things get really hairy when the man dies and inheritance laws come into play.

Fascinating! What made you decide to tackle this in novel form?