Maame

Maddie works at the Convent Garden Theatre (CGT) as a personal assistant for Katherine Fellingham, CGT’s director of marketing and publicity, who has been struggling with depression. Maddie hates working office jobs and cycles through them often. She finds this job meaningless and “can’t comprehend living to work, but then [she’s] afraid of working just to live” (12). She doesn’t get paid well and is constantly on the search for her next dream job, though she doesn’t have an idea of what this could be. Maddie got her job at CGT through Access All Areas, an organization that helps connect underrepresented minorities with London’s mostly white creative scene. She is the only Black person in administration, which is an isolating and exhausting experience. She wants a job that brings joy, even if it doesn’t earn much money. Maddie’s mother is unsympathetic as she and Maddie’s father, Ghanaian immigrants to Great Britain, work for money and stability; they didn’t have the privilege of finding their passions like Maddie does.

Maddie takes a walk with her work friend Avi. Avi is a popular Indian English woman who wants Maddie to live her fullest life as a 25-year-old, including moving out so she can socialize. She invites Maddie to come out with her and her boyfriend, Jake, but Maddie refuses. Instead, she helps prepare her father for bed. She gets a backache from carrying her father. Maddie calls her brother, James, who is busy being a part of his rapper friend’s entourage and not helping with the family’s bills. The siblings discuss their mother’s impending return to England. James doesn’t get along with their mother, and Maddie figures it has something to do with their mother’s loving texts to an unknown number. Maddie is loyal to her mother because she raised her with love and empowerment.

On Maddie’s way to church, she talks to Shu, who was once a close friend until university, work, and her girlfriend made her too busy. Like Avi, Shu encourages Maddie to move out of her father’s apartment. When Maddie’s mother is in town, they go to a Pentecostal church; when Maddie is on her own, she attends a contemporary Christian church. When she returns to her father, she finds him talking to himself in a corner. He believes he sees his sister Rebecca, who died in Ghana decades ago; his medication has the possible side effect of hallucinations. Maddie’s mother calls and tells Maddie that she’ll be back in England the following week and expects to stay for a year or more. She wants Maddie to move out so Maddie can enjoy her youth and find a husband while she takes care of Maddie’s father. Though Maddie’s parents are distant, they refuse to get divorced.

At work, Katherine lashes out at Maddie. Maddie goes to Dr. Rana, a general physician, for help with her back, but Dr. Rana only tells her to avoid strenuous activities. She attends a play at CGT and meets a man named Ben, who flirts with her and asks for her number. She is both excited and nervous about Ben, as she’s never had a serious boyfriend and is still a virgin.

Because of her low salary, Maddie can only afford a room in an apartment with two women named Jo and Cam. She likes the women, who are friendly and welcoming. She tells her father that she’s moving out. Maddie wants his blessing, but the news makes him quiet.

Maddie gets fired from her job for supposedly messing up Katherine’s schedule, which makes her break down. She panics about what to do next and then receives a text from Ben.

Maddie has used much of her savings for the down payment of her new room and is too ashamed to tell her mother about being fired. She stays at an apartment with her father, who also doesn’t know about her getting fired. Her Auntie Mabel visits, and she calls Maddie by her middle name, Baaba, according to Ghanaian tradition because she was born on a Thursday. Auntie Mabel is Maddie’s father’s younger sister. She also lives in London and has health problems, but she makes herself available for her brother. With Auntie Mabel, Maddie’s father can speak in Twi, his native language. Maddie spoke Twi when she was a child but now speaks more English. Avi calls Maddie, and they discuss Maddie’s firing. Avi encourages her to complain to human resources. Maddie writes an email to human resources accusing CGT of unjust firing and implying she has grounds to sue. She fights through her back pain, reminding herself that the women in her family are strong.

Maddie’s mother returns to England. James texts Maddie, congratulating her for moving out but noting she takes care of their father the best.

Maddie receives an email from CGT human resources acknowledging her email and curtly letting her know that they’ll look into her firing. Maddie’s mother talks to her again about marriage. She pressures Maddie to get married and have children before it’s too late. She wants her to meet someone who believes in God and is financially stable; she doesn’t mind if Maddie doesn’t date a Ghanaian man but notes the ease of sharing a culture. Maddie doesn’t want to take marriage advice from her mother since her parents aren’t a good match: “All I know is, their marriage has taught me many things but sadly it’s mainly taught me what to avoid” (59). Maddie’s mother encourages her to visit Ghana to reconnect with her culture. Maddie doesn’t want to admit that she feels out of place in Ghana. She finally texts Ben back.

Maddie tells her parents that she’s going to work, but, in reality, she goes to the public library to apply for jobs. She finds a fiction development program for underrepresented writers but doesn’t have anything substantial to turn in. She writes a draft about leaving her father but doesn’t want to submit it. Maddie gets a job interview as a personal and editorial assistant with a publisher called Orange Tree Publishing (OTP). OTP is a small company and has a difficult time competing with larger publishers, but Maddie likes the idea of being paid to read all day.

Maddie has a final dinner with her parents in their apartment. She’s happy to hear that her father’s carer, Dawoud, will still work for them because she’s uncertain how her mother will take care of her father.

Maddie moves her belongings into her new apartment room. She shops online for new clothes, eager to reinvent herself. She spends a great deal of money on these clothes and then makes a list of new qualities for the new Maddie, a list that includes going out more, having sex, and perhaps trying drugs.

Maddie goes to OTP for her interview. She notes she’s the only Black woman there but figures this will give her an advantage because companies try to laud diversity. She meets with a woman named Penny, who gives her a sample calendar to program and a sample short story to edit. Later, Jo and Cam take Maddie out for pizza to celebrate her moving in. They swap stories about men they’re dating, impressing Maddie with stories of casual sex and dating around. Cam recently split with a man, and Jo is dating a man named Sam but is also interested in a man named Conrad from work. Maddie tells them about Ben. Jo encourages her to ask Ben out, but Cam encourages her to wait for him to ask.

Maddie gets the job at OTP and starts right away. She’s Penny’s personal assistant, and her line manager is a woman named Kris, who shows her the ins and outs of the company. She works hard to keep up with the new system and names, hoping being a personal assistant will eventually lead to editorial work. When Penny orders Maddie to fill her tea mug in front of everyone like a waitress, she feels ashamed and uncomfortable.