Rockland, NY, USA --A Ghanaian immigrant's novel that draws upon her own life is causing a stir within a local circle of her countrymen who feel the book is more fact than fiction.
Rather than being met with approval or admiration, Mercy Ama Anim's "Mrs. Doctor," a book the author describes as a work of fiction loosely based upon her life, has caused anger and disappointment among some Ghanaian medical doctors and their wives who allege that characters in the book too closely resemble actual people within their circle.
"Mrs. Doctor" traces the life of the main character, Lucy, and her journey from a poor community in Ghana to an eventual life of affluence in America. Along the way, Lucy relates tales about her friends in the close-knit community of medical doctors and their wives.
The major developments in Anim's life closely parallel those of Lucy's.
Like Anim in actuality, the fictional Lucy is married to a doctor. Also like Anim, Lucy talks about being restless at being a stay-at-home mother, and feeling constrained and dissatisfied at having to depend upon her husband for a weekly allowance in America.
Eventually, Lucy gets her bachelor's degree and opens Little Darlings Day Care. Anim got her bachelor's degree in early childhood education and now runs Little Angels Day Care Center in Spring Valley.
Anim said she wrote the book primarily so that her story of persevering through adversity could inspire children.
Throughout Lucy's experiences, particularly those related in the second half of the novel that deals with her life in America, Anim's tale focuses on aspects of certain characters' personal lives and their growing preoccupation with material wealth.
The author describes an almost extreme case of keeping up with the Joneses: Lucy and her husband move from the Bronx to Rockland and buy a house with a pool, so the main character's friend, Monica, and her husband also move from the Bronx and get a similar house in the county; when Lucy decides to hold a formal wedding (she had a traditional ceremony performed in her home country), Monica decides to do the same; when Lucy shops for a particular wedding dress - white with a peach bow - Monica sets her heart on that same dress.
As a result of various couples' competitiveness - manifested as people compare everything from the cost of their jewelry, clothing, handbags, luxury cars and the state of their marriages - friction ensues.
It's reverberating throughout reality, too.
One critic, Margaret Adu of Chestnut Ridge, said the book comes across as an unauthorized exposé. She added that people in their social circle could easily discern people's real identities through thinly veiled characters.
"Some of the things she said were very inappropriate, and we come from a culture where we don't expose. We're not used to exposing ourselves, unlike here, where people come on public television and talk about their personal lives and all that," said Adu, who believes she is portrayed in the book. "Personally, I take her as a very, very good friend. I've been there for her in so many ways and everything she said about me, I saw it as betrayal."
Anim said that although she draws upon certain experiences in her life for the story, her friends are not in the book. Even as recently as two weeks ago, she said, she explained to a detractor that the novel was not intended to target specific members of the community.
"This book is about a child believing in herself and her journey. ... Unfortunately, certain events had to be part of the story, but I didn't go out to trash anyone in the book," she said.
Anim said she believes so much criticism has been leveled at her because some people take personally her portrayal of the fictional group's vanity and excess, a game in which Lucy herself is caught up.
"Some people are offended by that ... and I say I am not writing about people that I know, I'm writing about the specific character," Anim added.
But Adu, an event planner who runs Versailles Catering and Decor in Rockland and the Bronx, disagrees. Before she even saw the book, she said, people were calling her to ask her about it.
"The doctors and their wives, it's a very close-knit society, so you don't have to be told who is in the book," she said. "I went in isolation for three days. My husband and friends wanted me to get out of the country because I was losing it. I refused to talk to anybody. I was severely crushed by the book."
Some in Rockland's Ghanaian community of roughly 500 don't understand the intensity of objection to Anim's publication.
"It's very interesting how some of these doctors' wives are opposing the book, and there's no reason for it," said Lantei Lamptey, a Ghanaian native who heads Ramapo's African Heritage Twinning Committee. "The book that she wrote doesn't mention anybody's names. ... I mean, here's a Ghanaian who's written a book. You should actually encourage her to write some more."
Lamptey said he had talked with Anim's husband, Martin, at a celebration of the book.
"He's very happy about it," Lamptey said. "I was afraid he would get a divorce."
Far from it, said Dr. Martin Anim. He wasn't worried about any conclusions people might draw, he said.
"It's fictional, don't forget," Mercy Anim's husband said. "I know some people have read it and they may see characters that they may recognize in real life around here, that's among our own group, but it's fictional. It's a good book."
The doctor laughed when asked about whether he was concerned that people know that his wife, like Lucy, chafed under the apparent restrictions of her monetary allowance from him.
His attitude was because of his cultural background and a tremendous drive to save money, he said.
The doctor said he was surprised by the outcry among those of their circle against his wife's book, but things were settling down now. The book, initially self-published through AuthorHouse in 2005, was revised in September. Mercy Anim is planning to market the work to local libraries and other venues.
Martin Anim said he fully supports his wife's determination to write.
"She's always liked to write. Ever since we got married, she was always writing and typing things all through the early period of (our) marriage," he said. "This is the first thing that actually got all the way to publication, but she's always had a lot of ideas ... and jumps up in the middle of the night to write something. She does that a lot, so it's in her blood."
