by Lola Shoneyin
Monogamy is actually impractical from a continuation-of-the-species standpoint, but I've always felt multiple women sharing one man is a homicide waiting to happen. This novel did nothing to disabuse me of that notion. Far from it. The Big Secret was easy to guess despite some halfhearted misdirec...
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives is a fascinating glimpse into a different culture as well as an introduction to four very unique wives who are all trying to survive in a world where man is king. Baba Segi is consumed by the idea of having more children, while each of his wives is trying to pro...
2011 long-list Orange PrizeI always forget how much I love african fiction until I read another & then the joy of experiencing a world & culture so different from my own comes flooding back :D
2011 long-list Orange PrizeI always forget how much I love african fiction until I read another & then the joy of experiencing a world & culture so different from my own comes flooding back :D
Countless contemporary novels have taken the landscape of the monogamous marriage and its secrets as their subject, so it’s hardly surprising that a polygamous marriage, like that of Baba Segi, has an abundance of secrets with which to fill the pages of Lola Shoneyin’s debut novel.The dynamics of a ...
3.5 Review to follow
When Baba Segi awoke with a bellyache for the sixth day in a row, he knew it was time to do something drastic about his fourth wife's childlessness. He was sure the pain wasn't caused by hunger or trapped gas; it was from the buildup of months and months of worry. The narration in The Secret Lives o...
I never connected with the characters in this book. The point of view kept shifting - each chapter was told, first person, by a different wife (or sometimes Baba Segi). Then there'd be a chapter written in third person, then back to first. It was a little confusing. The story was interesting, but fe...
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