Half Lives by Krystle Zara Appiah

Half Lives by Krystle Zara Appiah

No one can hurt you like a sister

Growing up in 1970s Ghana, Evelyn and Maggie are two sides of the same coin. While reliable Evelyn is entrusted to support her struggling family, Maggie skips class to flirt with boys. Despite their differences, they’ve made a promise: one day they will escape to America, and start a new life together.

Evelyn’s prospects transform when she marries Gus, a wealthy surgeon who already lives in New York, and quickly falls pregnant. Meanwhile, Maggie sees her prospects vanish when she realises she is also expecting, but without the crucial detail of a husband.

When a terrible accident causes Evelyn to lose her unborn child, the answer seems simple, and Evelyn takes her sister’s unwanted baby to the States to raise as her own. But such an act has untold consequences for both sisters, and when one of them changes their mind, an impossible decision awaits.

An emotional gut-punch of a novel, Half Lives is about the enduring power of love, and what it can withstand before it breaks.

Krystle Zara Appiah is a British-Ghanaian writer, editor and screenwriter based in London. She has a degree in literature and creative writing from the University of Kent. In 2020, she was one of forty writers selected for the London Library’s Emerging Writers Programme. Her debut novel, Rootless, was highly acclaimed, with Krystle heralded as 'One of Britain's best new writers' by Harper's Bazaar.