cover image Imperfect Arrangements

Imperfect Arrangements

Frances Mensah Williams. Frances Mensah Williams, $14.95 trade paper (472p) ISBN 978-0-9569175-4-6

Following three couples on the cusp of significant life changes, this charming romance from Williams (From Pasta to Pigfoot) explores the difficulties of relationships at varying stages. Theresa Brew and her husband, Tyler, moved from London to Accra, the capital of Ghana, to get their careers off the ground. But when Theresa learns she’s pregnant with her first child, she worries pregnancy and motherhood will take her away from her fledgling public relations company. Intertwined with her story are those of her two best friends, Lyla Amoah and Maku Tetteh. Lyla, who is married with a singular desire to be a mother, fights her growing attraction to a handsome churchgoer. Meanwhile Maku is on the fast-track for professional success while raising three children, but she resents that she never got to have a church wedding with her long-term partner, Nortey, whose family disapproves of her. These three heroines are connected by their growing disillusionment with their romantic fantasies. Williams, who was born in Ghana, weaves in vivid cultural details as she lifts the veil on the realities of marriage, the woes of infertility, and the strain of gender roles. Readers are sure to enjoy this uplifting work. (Self-published)