The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives in Around the World

Mar 08, 2024 Rachel rated it really liked it

Shelves: 50-african-women, audiobooks, cultural-traditions, africa, women-s-prize-for-fiction-nominee, africa-challenge-2024, recent-faves, girl-power, misogyny, family-violence

#ReadAroundTheWorld. #Nigeria

This is the debut novel by Nigerian poet Lola Shoneyin. It takes a look at the life of a polygamous family in contemporary Nigeria with humour, wit, subtlety and insight. It was longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction and also features on the list 50 Books By African Women That Everyone Should Read.

When university graduate Bolanle enters the family as Baba Segi’s fourth wife it turns everything on its head. Despite her prestige as an educated woman, Iya Segi, Iya ...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Beth rated it liked it

Shelves: around-the-world-group, 6-books-6-countries-6-continents, great-african-reads-group, african-women-challenge

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 of Baba Segi's Wives: A Novel rotates among the adult family members in a polygamous Nigerian family, revealing their different responses as the book's central dilemma plays out. Baba Segi's fourth wif ...more

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Feb 09, 2024 Meenakshi Agarwal rated it liked it

Shelves: 2024

This was not just my first book by a Nigerian author but also my first book reading about Nigerian culture. For someone who knows nothing about it, this book really wasn’t much help in understanding it better. Many Nigerian words were used throughout the book without translations or even explaining what they meant.

This book started out strong for me but began to fizzle and lose my interest towards the second half. The ending was kind of blah for me!

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Jul 28, 2012 Barbarac rated it really liked it

Shelves: africa, library, women-authors-2016

Great book about Africa, and some insight into polygamists. The story is funny, and sad, and thought provoking.
I really enjoyed that the book was told by all the wives, and there were some chapters told by Baba Segi or his driver. So we get more of a complete story of what is going on, and why these women behave the way they do.
I can see the advantages and disadvantages of a multiple family household, and I'm not completely opposed to polygamy, but it's sad to see that women go into these types ...more

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Sep 01, 2013 Linda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: _global_reads, african

Very enjoyable book. Though many of the events are horrible - and you have to wonder about the limit of people's cruelty and pettiness! - the story explores people's various motives in life. I still don't truly understand Bolanle's motives despite her explanations, but that doesn't diminish the book's value for me. ...more

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