Rootless

Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Epigraph Part One Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Part Two Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Dedication Acknowledgments About the Author Landmarks Cover Cover Title Page Contents Start Copyright Print Page List iii iv vii 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 205 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 v 349 350 351 353 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Rootless is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
 Copyright © 2023 by Krystle Zara Appiah
 All rights reserved.
 Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
 Ballantine is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.
 Published in the United Kingdom by HarperCollins Publishers UK, London
 library of congress cataloging-in-publication data
 Names: Appiah, Krystle Zara, author.
 Title: Rootless / Krystle Zara Appiah.
 Description: First edition. | New York: Ballantine Books, 2023.
 Identifiers: LCCN 2022037398 (print) | LCCN 2022037399 (ebook) | ISBN 9780593500453 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780593500460 (ebook)
 Subjects: LCGFT: Novels.
 Classification: LCC PR6101.P69 Ro 2023 (print) | LCC PR6101.P69 (ebook) | DDC 823/.92—dc23/eng/20220817
 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/​2022037398
 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/​2022037399
 Ebook ISBN 9780593500460
 randomhousebooks.com
 Book design by Alexis Capitini, adapted for ebook
 Cover design: Alicia Tatone
 Cover illustration: Halimah Smith
 ep_prh_6.0_142781534_c0_r0
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Epigraph
 
 
 Part One
 
 Chapter 1
 
 
 Chapter 2
 
 
 Chapter 3
 
 
 Chapter 4
 
 
 Chapter 5
 
 
 Chapter 6
 
 
 Chapter 7
 
 
 Chapter 8
 
 
 Chapter 9
 
 
 Chapter 10
 
 
 Chapter 11
 
 
 Chapter 12
 
 
 Chapter 13
 
 
 Chapter 14
 
 
 Chapter 15
 
 
 Chapter 16
 
 
 Chapter 17
 
 
 Chapter 18
 
 
 Chapter 19
 
 
 Chapter 20
 
 
 Chapter 21
 
 
 Chapter 22
 
 
 Chapter 23
 
 
 
 Part Two
 
 Chapter 1
 
 
 Chapter 2
 
 
 Chapter 3
 
 
 Chapter 4
 
 
 Chapter 5
 
 
 Chapter 6
 
 
 Chapter 7
 
 
 Chapter 8
 
 
 Chapter 9
 
 
 Chapter 10
 
 
 Chapter 
 
 
 
 
 Marriage is like a groundnut.
 You have to crack it to see what is inside.
 —Ghanaian proverb
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 MAY 2016
 
 Five Months Before
 Sam knows he is too late even as he sprints back from the station. He runs the whole way, phone clenched in his fist, the early afternoon sun at his back. His lungs are seizing in his chest by the time he crashes into the stairwell. He takes the stairs two at a time and, panting loudly, calls Efe’s name as he staggers into the flat. Nothing is out of place. Maybe he’s overreacting. She has to be here somewhere, he thinks as he moves from room to room, peers around corners, behind the bathroom door. He throws open the utility closet and stares at the hoover