''Freshwater'' is a 2018

autobiographical fiction An autobiographical novel, also known as an autobiographical fiction, fictional autobiography, or autobiographical fiction novel, is a type of novel which uses autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The l ...

novel by

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

writer

Akwaeke Emezi Akwaeke Emezi is a Nigerian fiction writer and visual artist, best known for their novels ''Freshwater'' (2018), '' Pet'', and the ''New York Times'' bestselling work ''The Death of Vivek Oji''. Emezi is a generalist who writes speculative ficti ...

. Emezi's

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, it tells the story of Ada, a girl with multiple

ogbanje An ''ọgbanje'' is a term in Odinani (Igbo: ọ̀dị̀nànị̀) for what was thought to be an evil spirit that would deliberately plague a family with misfortune. Belief in ọgbanje in Igboland is not as strong as it once was, although there ar ...

dwelling inside her. ''Freshwater'' won both the Nommo Novel Award and

Otherwise Award The Otherwise Award, originally known as the James Tiptree Jr. Award, is an American annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February 1991 by science ...

in 2019, and was nominated for several other awards and prizes.

Plot

''Freshwater'' tells the semi-autobiographical story of the protagonist, known to the reader as 'The Ada'. The main narratorial voice of the novel is

deities A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

from

Igbo religion Odinani, also known as Odinala, Omenala, Odinana, and Omenana (), is the traditional cultural belief and practice of the Igbo people of South East (Nigeria), south east and Igbo people of South South (Nigeria), south south Nigeria.Afulezy, Juj ...

, that occupy the Ada, and manifests in multiple distinct and characterised personalities, both helpful and antagonistic. The plot follows a fragmented account of the Ada's life. The first segment of the novel discusses the Ada's birth and the nature of the ogbanje. This is followed by a general account of her childhood in Nigeria, including

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

and distant parents. This section is narrated in plural first person by the dormant ogbanje living inside her. As a teenager, the Ada moves to the United States to study biology, where her college boyfriend, Soren, repeatedly rapes her. The

trauma Trauma most often refers to: *Psychological trauma, in psychology and psychiatric medicine, refers to severe mental and emotional injury caused by distressing events *Traumatic injury, sudden physical injury caused by an external force, which doe ...

of this event causes the dormant ogbanje to change inside her, leading to the development of a unique ogbanje personality known as Asughara. Asughara harms the Ada's body to please the ogbanje spirits that reside in her. At the same time, another personality known as St Vincent emerges, who is male, calmer, and initially quiet. Following the emergence of these unique ogbanje personalities, there is a constant struggle for control over the Ada's life, and when the ogbanje seize control, they engage in self-destructive behavior, including self-harm,

mastectomy Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer choose to have ...

hypersexuality Hypersexuality is a proposed medical condition said to cause unwanted or excessive sexual arousal, causing people to engage in or think about sexual activity to a point of distress or impairment., according to the website of ''Psychology Toda ...

, and

alcohol abuse Alcohol abuse encompasses a spectrum of alcohol-related substance abuse. This spectrum can range from being mild, moderate, or severe. This can look like consumption of more than 2 drinks per day on average for men, or more than 1 drink per ...

. The plot climaxes as Asughara attempts to kill the Ada, which is seen as both murder from one personality to another, and also as suicide. The attempt fails, and after the Ada's hospitalisation, she travels back to Nigeria for the closing action of the story, where she connects with a shaman. In the final section of the novel, the Ada reflects on her personalities and the nature of the ogbanje in an introspective manner, as she gains a sense of wholeness to her identity. She also discloses

abuse Abuse is the act of improper usage or treatment of a person or thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, ...

she experienced as a child.

Themes

The story of ''Freshwater'' is broken up and fragmented through both time and narratorial voice. The narrator often changes between chapter, between the initial first person plural of the ogbanje, Asughara, St Vincent, and eventually the Ada herself, who doesn't gain a voice in her own story until well into the novel. The organisation of the story within the novel is arranged so that the action is more centred around the ogbanje's journey and conflict than the Ada's. Emezi explores their

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a t ...

heritage's views on spirituality and gender roles alongside those of Western construction and invites readers to think critically about the spirit/body binary.

Reception

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' called ''Freshwater'' "a startling début novel"; ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' called it "a remarkable debut"; and the ''

LA Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the large ...

'' called it "dazzling". ''Freshwater'' was longlisted for numerous significant awards. ''Freshwater'' was a ''New York Times'' Notable Book, was named a Best Book of the Year by the ''New Yorker'' and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. Emezi is also recognized as a 2018

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...

"5 Under 35" honoree. In 2019, ''Freshwater'' was nominated for the

Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...

— the first time a

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

transgender author has been nominated for the prize. Williams said that the panel did not know Emezi was non-binary when the book was chosen, but she said Emezi was happy to be nominated. After the nomination, the Women's Prize Trust formulated new guidelines for

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

authors, and as of 2020 requires authors to be "legally female" without regard to either

sex Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inheri ...

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

Controversy

The first editions of "Freshwater" name-dropped Emezi's work with Nigerian author and feminist

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (born Grace Ngozi Adichie; 15 September 1977) is a Nigerians, Nigerian writer of novels, short stories, poem, and children's books; she is also a book reviewer and literary critic. Her most famous works include ''Purple ...

. After Emezi posted tweets regarding Adichie in 2021, Adichie asked that all references to her name be removed from the "about the author" section of the book jacket on all future copies of ''Freshwater''.

Adaptation

In May 2019, news announced that the novel was optioned by FX for a TV series adaptation. Emezi was scheduled to write the screenplay and executive produce the series with Tamara P. Carter.

FX Productions FX Productions, LLC (FXP) is an American television and in-house production company owned by FX Networks, a division of the Disney Entertainment unit of The Walt Disney Company. It was also known in copyright as Bluebush Productions from 2007 ...

planned to produce it alongside Kevin Wandell and Lindsey Donahue. As of 2025, there was no evidence of the adaptation moving forward.

Awards

References

{{Nommo Award Winners 2018 American novels 2018 fantasy novels 2018 LGBTQ-related literary works American fantasy novels African-American young adult novels American young adult novels Debut fantasy novels 2018 debut novels Nigerian English-language novels Nigerian fantasy novels Nigerian LGBTQ novels 2010s LGBTQ novels American LGBTQ novels Novels by Akwaeke Emezi 2018 Nigerian novels James Tiptree Jr. Award–winning works Grove Press books