The novel "Changes: A Love Story" is written by Ama Ata Aidoo and published in 1993 by the Feminist Press. The story moves around a protagonist girl Esi, who lives in Ghana and works in a statistics department. She is a wife, a mother, and a working woman. The narrator vividly tells us how the life of working women becomes a tragedy because of no social and emotional support.
Esi's economic condition is weak, so she works in a company for the well being of the family. To manage some travel arrangements, she moves to the head office of her company. There she meets Ali Kondey. He is a young married man who is CEO of the company. They meet and get attracted to each other. Esi's family life is contentious, and she is not happy with her husband, Oko. Her daughter, Ogyaanowa, is the only bond between them. Oko is a conservative person who cannot digest the fact that his wife works outside the home. After a brutal fight and marital rape by Oko, Esi decides to divorce him.
Esi has a best friend Opokuya, Who is facing similar harassment by her husband, but leaving her husband isn't a solution as society doesn't permit women much freedom. Esi decides to marry Ali. At first, their family does not allow them, but later everyone gives consent. Ali is a Muslim man who believes in polygamy. He keeps Esi as his second wife. After marriage, her life doesn't change much. Ali is busy doing business deals, travel, and living a wealthy life. He doesn't give time to Esi, so It leads her in distress again. There is no satisfaction in her life. The love, care, sympathy she seeks from Ali fades with time. He sends her expensive gifts from all over the world to show love, but his physical appearance is rare in her life. The book tells us how Esi's life becomes miserable because of the social conditioning of society who keeps women behind the wall always.
