HOUSE WOMAN

Publisher: Unnamed Press
Cover: Jaya Nicely

House Woman

When Ikemefuna is put on a plane from Lagos to Texas, she anticipates her newly arranged All-American life: a handsome husband, a beautiful red-brick mansion in Sugar Land, pizza parlors, and dance classes.

Desperate to please, she'll happily cater to her family's needs. But Ikemefuna soon discovers what it actually means to live with her in-laws. Demands for a grandson grow urgent as her every move comes under scrutiny.

As family secrets boil to the surface, Ikemefuna must decide how to scrape herself out of an impossibly sticky situation: a marriage succumbing to generational cycles of pain and silence. In the end, she may be carrying the greatest secret of all.

An unforgettably delicious thriller, House Woman is about a woman trapped in a dangerous web of conflicting desires, melting in the Texas heat.

Recognition for House Woman

STARRED Foreword Review

Kirkus Reviews

Praise for House Woman

"Adorah Nworah has written a deeply immersive and wrenching study of the life of a young woman in an arranged marriage and the thorny paths she must navigate in her quest for freedom. This debut shines with a brilliance that will run through you clean as an arrow. I’ve yet to read a story so gutting, yet tender and thoughtful in its handling of such an important subject."
—Ukamaka Olisakwe, Author of OGADINMA
"To read HOUSE WOMAN is to encounter characters that are alive in their desires. They want what they want and they want it now. Nworah's debut is full of twists and sentences that will stun you. A book rich in surprises. "
—Kemi Falodun, writer, journalist and author of SOUNDBENDER: THE MANY LIVES OF BEAUTIFUL NUBIA
"An unflinching, unforgettable slow-burn thriller, House Woman reveals searing truths about women’s bodily autonomy and the hidden Gothic horrors of marriage while refusing to provide any simple answers—and the novel is all the more satisfying for it. Adorah Nworah is a stunning literary talent, and her debut will enthrall you, incense you, and haunt you forever."
—Layne Fargo, author of THEY NEVER LEARN
"Deliciously sinister, HOUSE WOMAN engulfs in slow, insidious waves. This novel is compellingly paced and alive with searing detail. Though woven through familiar elements of Nigerian diasporic literature, Nworah's prose quickly, provocatively subverts expectations. With characters who are flawed as flesh and a plot that twists and snatches from one terrifying brink to another, House Woman is fresh and thoroughly enjoyable. I'm just jealous that I didn't write it!"
—Francesca Ekwuyasi, Author of BUTTER HONEY PIG BREAD
"HOUSE WOMAN unfurls bloody truths about the lives of girls and women in language that writhes and burns on the page."
—Amy Gentry, Author of BAD HABITS and GOOD AS GONE
"To see Nworah’s literary gifts culminate in a work informed by a powerful intelligence and spoken with wit and authenticity is, in itself, a delight."
—Robin Davidson, Author of MRS. SCHMETTERLING (POEMS) and HOUSTON POET LAUREATE (2015-2017)