The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives

A modern classic - Lola Shoneyin's debut novel is a portrait of a clamorous household in the midst of upheaval

Named one of the five best dark comedy novels of all time by Oyinkan Braithwaite Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction Coming soon to Netflix 'Comic, tragic, topical and entertaining in equal measure' - Bernardine Evaristo To the dismay of her ambitious mother, Bolanle marries into a polygamous family, where she is the fourth wife of a rich, rotund patriarch, Baba Segi. She is a graduate and therefore considered a great prize in Nigeria, but even graduates must produce children and her husband's persistent bellyache is a sign that things are not as they should be. She only wants to escape to a quiet life, but the others disapprove of the newest, youngest, cleverest addition to the family. Treated with respect by her husband, she is viewed with suspicion by her seniors - who fear she may unlock their well-guarded secret. Through the voices of Baba Segi and his four wives, Lola Shoneyin weaves a vibrant story of love, secrets and a family like every other - happy and unhappy, truthful and not, sometimes kind, sometimes competitive, always bound by blood, and the past.