The Sewer Bride

Date

Authors

Arhin, Stephanie Adwoa

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

This thesis is a selection of chapters from my novel titled, The Sewer Bride. The Sewer Bride is an exploration of first-generation femininity and independence told from alternating perspectives. Alison (Al) Afreh is twenty-three years old and living in present-day Washington D.C. She lives like many other American girls her age: she goes to work, lives with a roommate, gets drunk on the weekends, and is engaged in a pseudoplatonic sexual relationship with her college friend Simon. Her American lifestyle and romantic choices are placed under a microscope when her mother Esther “temporarily” moves in with her. Novel chapters in the present-day are narrated from Al’s point of view. Every other chapter flashes back to Esther’s life, defining the woman she once was, and depicting her marriage with Kwesi. In addition to these chapters, the fictional myth of “The Sewer Bride” (a child bride who lives in sewers only to serve men) functions as a prologue to the novel and an extended metaphor of Esther’s life and Al’s number one fear.

Description

This thesis has been embargoed and will not be available until April 28, 2032 at the earliest.

Keywords

First-generation, African, Immigrant, Mother/daughter, Contemporary, Fiction

Citation