Lola Shoneyin’’s much anticipated debut novel is forthcoming from Cassava Republic
Lola Shoneyin’s debut novel, ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives’ offers a critical look at the Nigerian polygamous household. And quite like Abimbola Adunni Adelakun’s ‘Under the Brown Rusted Roof’, the novel bares the age-old matrimonial arrangement - warts and all.
‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives’ is told in an alternation of first person narratives and the third person omniscient observer, which very deftly elevates the theme and chronology of the narrative.
The novel chronicles the marital life of Bolanle and the challenges she faces as the youngest and educated wife of Baba Segi’s four wives. It explores the psychological metamorphosis of Bolanle, in the midst of rivals who are made insecure by the same qualities that charm their husband.
Bolanle displays an unsettling naivety even when confronted with threats such as poisoning. The one-up Bolanle’s co-wives can boast is their fecundity, and they use it well; as after two years, Bolanle’s belly remains “as flat as a pauper’s footstool.”
This underachievement in the sight of her husband and his wives ensures that her place in her husband’s house remains insecure. And the significance of this is illustrated with the analogy of the armchairs. Bolanle is denied having her own armchair in the family living room, until she is swollen with child.
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