I first got introduced to this book via Twitter. A few people mentioned that they enjoyed reading it, so I thought why not. I had not read any reviews on the book and simply bought it because it seemed like a popular read on Twitter.
About the book:
This book is set in Nigeria where a “self-made” man, who can barely keep anything he eats down, lives with his 4 wives. The wives all have troubling pasts, growing up under poverty and hard labour. They marry Baba Segi as a means of escaping their hard lives. The book mainly revolves around the last and youngest wife Bolanle, who, unlike the other wives is educated! She is a graduate and this is often used to mock her. The wives immediately feel threatened by her arrival at the Segi household as they feel that she sees herself as better than them and walks with her “nose in the air”. However, educated as she is, she chooses to marry a polygamous man much to her mothers disapproval. While the other wives feel unsettled by her presence in the house, they have no idea that her being in this house is to escape her own past same as with the women. Bolanle, trying to survive in her new territory, realizes that she may not be able to conceive. The wives, immediately plot to ensure that she leaves or that she is kicked out, which results in devastating results. The book comes to it’s logical conclusion with the Bolanle the graduate leaving the homestead as the wives had initially wanted.
Thoughts:
I enjoyed this book. I liked how the author was so candid in how she allows the individual characters to shine through in the way they speak/narrate. One could easily make out that Iya Femi was a mean spirited woman. The women were clear and straight to the point in their narration, calling a spade a spade! She introduces us to each wife by giving a short but very detailed account of their lives and how they came to marry Baba Segi. She also uses fine detail when narrating the story through the characters which brings each character’s story to life and often explaining the reasoning behind each characters behavior. Lola also gives us a glimpse into Baba Segi which reveals to us the real reason for the “secrets” harboured by the wives.
The only let down for me was how I had forgotten, while reading this book that it was set in Nigeria. The colorful manner of speaking that I have come to know and love in how Nigerians speak was lost on me in this book. While the language was clear, it seemed to really simplify the language, perhaps for broader audiences. I also felt that the author did not paint a picture of their surrounds/environment well enough for me. I also felt that some finer details that allow me to create imagery were lost on me. I couldn’t in my mind’s eye create vivid images of the characters. The individual features were not properly defined for me resulting fragments of what each character may have looked like. All in all, this was a good read for the holidays, light and easy to read, great for passing time. I rate it 3.5 out of 5 stars!
About the book:
This book is set in Nigeria where a “self-made” man, who can barely keep anything he eats down, lives with his 4 wives. The wives all have troubling pasts, growing up under poverty and hard labour. They marry Baba Segi as a means of escaping their hard lives. The book mainly revolves around the last and youngest wife Bolanle, who, unlike the other wives is educated! She is a graduate and this is often used to mock her. The wives immediately feel threatened by her arrival at the Segi household as they feel that she sees herself as better than them and walks with her “nose in the air”. However, educated as she is, she chooses to marry a polygamous man much to her mothers disapproval. While the other wives feel unsettled by her presence in the house, they have no idea that her being in this house is to escape her own past same as with the women. Bolanle, trying to survive in her new territory, realizes that she may not be able to conceive. The wives, immediately plot to ensure that she leaves or that she is kicked out, which results in devastating results. The book comes to it’s logical conclusion with the Bolanle the graduate leaving the homestead as the wives had initially wanted.
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