Jessica George's first novel reminded me immediately of GOODBYE, VITAMIN, one of my favorite books from the last several years. Like Rachel Khong's debut, MAAME is a heartfelt and sometimes surprisingly funny depiction of a young woman growing up while taking care of a father with a chronic illness.

In the case of George's protagonist, Maddie (called "Maame" ["mama"] by her mother and older brother) has spent her years since university as the primary live-in caregiver for her father, who has Parkinson's disease. It's literally thankless work --- her father can no longer speak, and both her mother (who has repatriated to Ghana most of the time) and her older brother, James, can't be bothered. In fact, her mother most frequently contacts her when she needs money. Maddie works as an administrative assistant for a London theater but is very responsible with her money (and everything else).

"Readers will be rooting for [Maddie] to find the strength to advocate for herself in the workplace, with her family and in her romantic relationships --- and to finally be seen as herself rather than as a role or stereotype."

When Maddie’s mother announces her intentions to move back to London for a year and take over the caregiving responsibilities, she encourages Maddie to move out of the family home at last, find a couple of flatmates, and go out on her first dates since high school. Unaccustomed to this level of freedom and independence, Maddie finds what she's sure is the perfect living situation and sets about reinventing herself. She makes a list of goals for "The New Maddie," like "Has different experiences (Travel? Brunch?)" --- and then promptly gets fired.

A new job in publishing (where, just like at the theater, she's the only Black employee), a series of horrifically bad dating decisions, and an uncomfortable falling-out with one of her flatmates are only the beginning of Maddie's experiences in (finally) growing up. And when she endures a major loss, she has to ask herself if this experiment as "The New Maddie" was actually a tragic mistake.

Maddie, whose present-tense first-person narration results in a particularly intimate narrative, is a fascinating character. She's simultaneously old for her age --- unsurprising given the amount of familial and financial responsibility she's acquired --- and extremely naïve, as her Google searches for questions like "Is a first date at his house normal?" indicates. Maddie has friends, but she struggles to truly confide in them. This problem is only exacerbated when she starts dating and compulsively lies to the men she meets, convinced that no one really wants to see her in all her complexity and messiness.

Maddie experiences microaggressions in her job, in friendships and in her nascent attempts at romance. She tries to figure out how to navigate her place in the world while also struggling with depression and doubts about sexual desire. Readers will be rooting for her to find the strength to advocate for herself in the workplace, with her family and in her romantic relationships --- and to finally be seen as herself rather than as a role or stereotype.