The Secret Lives of Baba Segis Wives

Posted on 19 August 2018 by Lola Shoneyin

African born poet Lola Shoneyin makes her fiction debut with The Secret Lives of Babi Segi s Wives, a perceptive, entertaining, and eye opening novel of polygamy in modern day Nigeria The struggles, rivalries, intricate family politics, and the interplay of personalities and relationships within the complex private world of a polygamous union come to life in The Secret Lives of Baba Segi s Wives Big Love and The 19th Wife set against a contemporary African background. Free Download The Secret Lives of Baba Segis Wives author Lola Shoneyin For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr This was one of those novels that takes the well trodden but almost always readable path of the African women s novel and turns it on it s head I burned through novels by Buchi Emecheta and Flora Nwapa because of their raw unapologetic honesty in portraying the lives of Nigerian women Still, after reading six or seven in a row, I d find myself just fuming with anger and need for justice Their books weren t about meting out justice or even a bit of rebellion The Secret Lives of Baba Segi s This was one of those novels that takes the well trodden but almost always readable path of the African women s novel and turns it on it s head I burned through novels by Buchi Emecheta and Flora Nwapa because of their raw unapologetic honesty in portraying the lives of Nigerian women Still, after reading six or seven in a row, I d find myself just fuming with anger and need for justice Their books weren t about meting out justi...This book blew me away I never thought I d be interested in a book about Africa it s usually not my thing The novel had me hooked after the first page The language is mesmerising and it was refreshing to read what English sounds like when it has an African feel.The novel is about a polygamous family that is about to implode but doesn t know it The newest wife fails to conceive and after two years, the patriarch, Baba Segi, takes her Bolanle to a hospital This is where everything starts t This book blew me away I never thought I d be interested in a book about Africa it s usually not my thing The novel had me hooked after the first page The language is mesmerising and it was refreshing to read what English sounds like when it has an African feel.The novel is about a polygamous family that is about to implode but doesn t know it The newest wife fails to conceive and after two years, the patriarch, Baba Segi, takes her Bolanle to a hospital This is where everything starts to unravel I thought it was all going to be simple and straightforward until I found myself well and truly spun into the web of deception and subterfuge The wives in this novel are so unpredictable D...Baba Segi is a patriarch, comfortably off but not rich, unsophisticated and boorish but not brutal, sexist but not misogynistic In return for a home, financial support, and the dubious privilege of sharing their beds with him on allotted nights, they cook, clean up after and pamper him, massaging his ego Iya Segi, Iya Tope and Iya Femi look after their children, while the newest wife, graduate Bolanle, anxiously waits to fall pregnant, since it s taken for granted by all that childbearing and Baba Segi is a patriarch, comfortably off but not ric...Nigerian author, Lola Shoneyin brought a tender tale of compassion and love to the table with this book.Baba Segi was a good man A bit unrefined, and uneducated, but his heart was as big as a baobab tree, and the fruits of his devotion as prolific as a mango tree s Sweet and irresistible It was his fourth wife, Bolanli, the graduate, who would spin his world in reverse when she failed to conceive a child Was it not for Teacher, who encouraged him to take her to a real doctor, instead of his Nigerian author, Lola Shoneyin brought a tender tale of compassion and love to the table with this book.Baba Segi was a good man A bit unrefined, and uneducated, but his heart was as big as a baobab tree, and the fruits of his devotion as prolific as a mango tree s Sweet and irresistible It was his fourth wife, Bolanli, the graduate, who would spin his world in reverse when she failed to conceive a child Was it not for Teacher, who encouraged him to take her to a real doctor, instead of his usual shamans and natural healers, life could have remained much less complicated Favoritism, envy, insecurities and past hurts, rush to the surface with Baba Segi right bang in the center of the revolt.Iya Segi, Iya To...I m so glad I picked up this book, which I found researching books left and right When I saw that it was a book on polygamy frankly I had no idea what to expect My first thought was maybe something clich What I got was something muchinteresting It was a story I had a lot of trouble putting down although I was forced to because of work Shoneyin who isknown for her poetry has debuted with a book which analyses polygamy, African tradition, and relationships between men and women w I m so glad I picked up this book, which I found researching books left and right When I saw that it was a book on polygamy frankly I had no idea what to expect My first thought was maybe something clich What I got was something muchinteresting It was a story I had a...As a Western woman who believes in monogamy, I wasn t sure this tale of Nigerian women in a polygamous marriage would have anything to say to me Still, once I read the first paragraph, it was nearly impossible to put the tale of The Secret Lives of Baba Segi s Wives down Truly, author Lola Shoneyin has not just given us a glimpse inside the family life of Baba Segi and his four wives, but also a universal tale of secrets, compromises, and human interactions.The story centers on the dynamic o As a Western woman who believes in monogamy, I wasn t sure this tale of Nigerian women in a polygamous marriage would have anything to say to me Still, once I read the first paragraph, it was nearly impossible to put the tale of The Secret Lives of Baba Segi s Wives down Truly, author Lola Shoneyin has not just given us a glimpse inside the family life of Baba Segi and his four wives, but also a universal tale of secrets, compromises, and human interactions.The story centers on the dynamic of Babi Segi s family This patriarch supports three wives and seven children, but still he wantsWhen a well educated young woman drops by his business one day with a friend, his desire for a fourth wife is clear But just what does Bolanle the fourth wife have to gain by entering this already crowded household The answer to that question, along with the relationships among family members are the heart and soul of th...From my bedroom I heard my mother sobbing, which was strange because the prospect of death did not usually upset her She said she wanted to go to heaven and kill my father all over again She was desperate for me to be married Nigerian Baba Segi is the hardworking, uneducated husband to three wives Iya Segi, Iya Tope, and Iya Femi and father to their seven children Their lives take place in Ayikara as the 20th century is drawing to a close When Baba Segi takes a fourth wife, Bol...Throughout the first quarter of this novel, I found myself laughing my butt off Baba Segi is one of the most ignorant men to walk the face of this earth in fiction anyway Sure, men see him as successful because after all, he is able to afford four wives and 7 children and four comfortable armchairs, but this man is not only terribly stupid at times but he also vomits on himself when he gets upset and um, at one point, he poops his pants So by the time I got to the part where the polygami Throughout the first quarter of this novel, I found myself laughing my butt off Baba Segi is one of the most ignorant men to walk the face of this earth in fiction anyway Sure, men see him as successful because after all, he is able to afford four wives and 7 children and four comfortable armchairs, but this man is not only terribly stupid at times but he also vomits on himself when he gets upset and um, at one point, he poops his pants So by the time I got to the part where the polygamist pooped his pants, I was che...The narration of this novel shifts from third person point of view to the first person point of view of Bolanle to the first person point of view of Iya Tope to third person to first person Sound confusing It was Other than marriage, there really wasn t much stringing these characters and their narratives together The voices and characters of Baba Segi and the first three wives left much to be desired Part of my frustration with the narration stemmed from the fact that their was nothing to The narration of this novel shifts from third person point of view to the first person point of view of Bolanle to the first person point of view of Iya Tope to third person to first person Sound confusing It was Other than marriage, there really wasn t much stringing these characters and their narratives together The voices and characters of Baba Segi and the first three wives left much to be desired Pa...Lola Shoneyin s book is one of the most successful and most widely read, received in African literary history never mind African women s literature This of course indicates that this work is also widely read in the western world Indeed some observers sneer at facts like this, claiming that such an author is only largely read by detached whites overseas , but this is absurd, as tens of thousands of perceptive African readers abound all over the western world anyway Shoneyin is a superb wri Lola Shoneyin s book is one of the most successful and most widely read, received in African literary history never mind African women s literature This of course indicates that this work is also widely read in the western world Indeed some observers sneer at facts like this, claiming that such an author is only largely read by detached whites overseas , but this is absurd, as tens of thousands of perceptive African readers abound all over the western world anyway Shoneyin is a superb writer, often even giving the impression of a tongue in cheek, non conformist This book is about polygamy, African polygamy, which might re...

English
19 August 2018

Lola Shoneyin