The Teller of Secrets by Siri Adjapon

Esi grows up without her mother and must rely on the tidbits of information she gets from her half sisters about puberty and what is expected of her as a woman of West Africa. She searches for intimacy and love but is constantly berated for getting close to the wrong people. Her father sleeps with whoever he wants and the other women in the family seem to have worth as a wife or mother. Chastised for any sexual exploitation she has in boarding school or even as a child playing romance with a girlfriend, Esi is punished for being naive. She is smart and the only one who will be continuing her education and going to university but even as she strives to be a more modern African woman she is pushed into traditional female roles where she and her body are completely controlled by the men in her life. This is an honest look at misleading role models , abandonment and the struggle of trying to be "the good girl" while breaking free of traditional restraints. Readers wanting to explore other cultures and the birth of feminism outside the U.S. will find much to love here.  4 stars