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THE SECRET LIVES OF BABA SEGI'S WIVES
Reviewed by Judy Lim
Baba Segi is a very lucky man. He has three wives and seven children. His family validate his need to show off his prosperity, his success and his virility. He is middle aged, plump and prosperous, with quite a high opinion of himself and his success as the family patriarch. But when he brings home a fourth wife, it seems his luck might not hold out. Bolanle, educated and beautiful, is hated from the start by the first three wives. Together, and separately, they scheme and plot to make her life as unhappy as possible, and to ensure that their positions in the family remain unchanged. But ultimately it is her failure to produce children that relegates her to the lowest position in the household. And it is her failure to conceive that will finally expose secrets that the wives have been desperately keeping from Baba Segi. Wife number one, Iya Segi, is a vindictive woman who will stop at nothing to protect her position in the family. She is the undisputed head of the house when Baba Segi is not at home, and a woman who uses her power to the detriment of the other wives and to her own advantage. Iya Tope is the second wife. She is shy, nervous and fearful. Her sense of decency and compassion are overshadowed by fear. She is afraid of reprisals at the hands of the other wives, and her fear of losing her position in Baba Segi's family prevent her from come to the aid of Bolanle. The third wife, Iya Femi, is a schemer and conniver who will attain the position and wealth she aspires to at all costs. She uses every opportunity to manipulate the others to her own advantage. However, each of the wives has one thing in common. Each of them is harbouring secrets which make her fear the very real possibility of being abandoned in a world where she is nothing and has nothing without her family to support her. Polygamy was not the first choice for any of these wives. As their stories are told, we gain insight into how secrets from their past have affected their marriageability, and how much of their lives is a compromise. The four stories that are told by the wives are deftly untangled to reveal a common thread, a similarity between these women that ultimately leads to their downfall. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives is a very entertaining novel. It is a story set firmly in the landscape of Nigeria. The author, Lola Shoneyin, has written her first novel using prose which clearly reflects her skills as a poet. Fiercely funny yet deeply affecting at the same time, it is a sharply written and ultimately, a gripping tale. It is one of those very rare stories that once read, will stay with you forever. |
William Morrow, hardcover, 9780061946370 Serpent's Tail, paperback, 9781846687488 Serpent's Tail, paperback, 9781846687495 (June 2011) |