Rootless

A Novel

By: Krystle Zara Appiah

Narrated by: Clifford Samuel, Diana Yekinni

Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

WINNER OF THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD • A provocative debut novel about a marriage in crisis that asks the question: Can you ever be rooted in a home that’s on the brink of collapse?

“Beautiful, gripping, and tender . . . a powerful and unforgettable meditation on love, belonging, and motherhood.”—Emilia Hart, author of Weyward

On a spring afternoon in London, Sam races up the stairs of his flat two at a time. There’s £1,300 missing from the bank account he shares with his wife, Efe, and his calls are going straight to voicemail. When he finally reaches someone, he learns that Efe is over four thousand miles away, as their toddler looks around and asks, “Where’s Mummy?”

When Efe and Sam met as teens headed for university, it seemed that everyone knew they were meant to be. Efe, newly arrived in the UK from Ghana and sinking under the weight of her parents’ expectations, found comfort in the focused and idealistic Sam. He was stable, working toward a law career, and had an unwavering vision for their future—a vision Efe, now a decade later, finds insufferable. From the outside, they’re the picture-perfect couple everyone imagined, but there are cracks in the frame.

Faced with a life-altering decision, Efe and Sam find themselves on opposing sides, forced to confront just how radically different they want their lives to be. Then one day, Efe disappears. Rootless is a heartrending story about sacrifice, family, and ambition, providing an intimate look at what happens after a marriage collapses—and if it can still be saved.

©2023 Krystle Zara Appiah (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A beautiful, gripping, and tender novel . . . Efe and Sam felt heartbreakingly real—I was utterly invested in their relationship, from heady teenage courtship to the challenges of parenthood. Vividly set in London and Accra, Rootless is a powerful and unforgettable meditation on love, belonging, and motherhood.”—Emilia Hart, author of Weyward

“The unswerving exploration of marriage, parenthood, and identity in Rootless is brave, insightful, and heartbreaking. . . . A moving debut novel.”—Rachel Edwards, author of Lucky

“One mark of a great novel is the emotions its characters elicit within us. Rootless is a character-driven narrative which, from page one, welcomes you in, leads you to your seat, and buckles you in for the journey. Sam and Efe are the epitome of messy, infuriating, and lovable, their romance constantly driving them apart and pulling them back together. They war. They repent. They fly their mistakes like flags. That is the beauty of Appiah’s work—humanity is on display on every single page. Rootless is a beautifully honest exploration of the complexities of motherhood, marriage, family, and love. It is a novel not to be missed!”—Onyi Nwabineli, author of Someday, Maybe

omg wow

I have never felt so related to a character, my god. Everything about Efe is so raw and easy to connect with. I felt all the feels. Her relationship is so incredible to show how love is enough. Even if you want different things, you can make it happen. Ugh, and the ending I never saw coming that had me crying for days!

Great Character Development

I Loved this story from beginning to end. I’m so Sad it is now over!

Loved!!

Loved being rooted in this read from the beginning. Enjoyed the performance and the character development.

The performance doesn’t let me enjoy

I hate the performance and wasn’t able to get past that to continue this read.

A Bit of a Drag

I hate to say it... but this book sort of dragged. It could’ve been a couple of chapters shorter because not much was happening in many of the chapters, I felt like there was too much backstory. The beginning of the story was extremely intriguing and immediately pulled me in, but I was soon tossed into a maze of never-ending backstories. I felt it did not add to the story and then we get a disappointing ending.

Woah

Okay it took me a while to realize what happened at the end !! Because I’m reading while rating I wasn’t expecting it !!

The ending !

I was not prepared for the ending , great plot twist . This caused me to think deeper about life and relationships and all the trivial things we get hung up on !

Nice story, unexpected end

I gave this a 4 because I just felt some of the decisions of the main characters seemed a bit out of touch with real life in my humble opinion. Main character seemed self-absorbed but at the same time wasn’t lol. Idk how to explain it.
Anyway, I liked that the end was not predictable but being a forever optimist, it left a bad taste for me. Great job to the writer and performers. Felt like I was watching the scenes. Would recommend

Incredible

This book was so incredibly well written. It captured the cultural dynamic, the pressures on women, the views on parenting and children, and mental health very well. This is a book that’s hard to put down.

A story packed with so many themes

I was deeply invested in this story and kept wondering what the count down was going to reveal. This was certainly less expected for me until things started to build up in the last few chapters. I appreciate the themes from relationship changes to postpartum depression and struggle. I did feel like the accents where not so authentic Ghanaian but that may be noticeable for someone of Ghanaian Origin. However , I overlooked this and focused on the story itself.