Maitama Linen: The Scandalous Lives of Abuja Elites

by Shehu Usman Yakubu

Kemi, a mechanic, walks right into the seemingly lifeless body of Aisha Bashir as she opens her workshop on a rainy November morning. With a gunshot wound to the head and at the brink of death, Aisha lays still as she recounts all the salient moments that led her there. From meeting Zeebaby to her emancipation as the 'new girl', she would never have thought she would be holding on to her dear life on the floor of a mechanic’s workshop. While Aisha grapples with life, a whole world of chaos has befallen the once sleepy hills of Maitama. Like Beverly Hills, Maitama is the playground of the rich and powerful. Nestled on the hills of Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, she knows many secrets and could tell many tales of the scandalous elite who call her home. Salma, a Maitama trophy wife with a secret, inexplicably finds herself at the centre of an international drug ring after meeting a dashing young Turk - Altin. Her husband Tanko Danlami, a prominent businessman with a secret life of his own would set in motion a series of events which intersects their lives in dangerous and exciting ways. Maitama Linen tells a story that unravels and then entangles the lives of numerous characters, and while these stories are unique to these characters, there is a common scandalous thread unifying them all. At its core, the book exposes the hypocrisies that typically underly the deeply held cultural, ethnic and religious norms and values upheld by the masses but often decimated by the elite. - Ohimai Oyeleke ( Editor & Friend of Author)

216 pages, Paperback

Published September 23, 2023

Reviews

[bookish eni-olak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick and thrilling read. It felt like reading a gossip blog. I went from confused to shocked to surprised and finally settled on disbelief. Just when you thought someone couldn’t stoop so low, they did. The storytelling could be better but the plot was good.

[Munis Bukola · Rating 3 out of 5]

The end? How?
It’s funny how this book started with Abuja realism and somehow ended up in a full-blown cartel drama. I understand that books are a product of an author’s imagination, but how does the beginning connect with the end?

It was a fun read, but here are a few issues I had with it:
1. The transition from Abuja elites to Italian mafias felt disjointed. The start and end just didn’t connect.
2. Too many unnecessary characters were introduced and given full backstories. For example, did we really need all the details of Kemi’s life just because she received ₦2M for saving someone who wasn’t even a main character?
3. Several storylines were left unfinished, making some character arcs feel incomplete.
4. Who exactly is the main character?

Overall, while the book had its entertaining moments, the inconsistency in plot direction and character focus made it a bit chaotic.

[Bean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do we live in the same Abuja?
Very enjoyable, although I did start it off on the note feeling like it was a sort of gossip girl dilemma, I ended up appreciating the way it addressed issues of society and I’m expecting more from the author because it was also really well written!

[Dakid · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable read. I found it so difficult to put it down. I love how we got backstory on every character, no matter how minor the character was. The storyline was very good and relatively practical in the beginning. Towards the end, however, it started to become very far-fetched.
Female characters written by men are so obvious. They all possess this air of foolishness and materialism. In this book, it was even worse. All the women were seen as sex symbols. The words curvy, voluptuous, and sexy, amongst many others, were the leading adjectives in the descriptions of the women.
I enjoyed the bouncing around of time lines. It kept me on my toes, and I had to pay attention to link all the events. I loved how all the characters have some sort of link, no matter how small; and how the links were explored. It made the book even more captivating to wonder who knows who and how.
This is a wonderful debut novel. It catches and holds your attention. The writing style could use a little work, especially in female characterization and descriptions. The author has an immense amount of potential. I look forward to more of his work.
If you're looking for a tea filled, slightly far-fetched novel that'll distract you for the day, I highly recommend.
Love and Light,
Dakid.

[Ezinne Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started like a gossip tale, ended like an action movie.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book I found it hard to drop and even while I slept I made sure my sleep was fast so I could continue 😂

It felt like reading a gossip story you’ve heard but now reading it fully detailed.


I like what Shehu did with the story telling of the Abuja elites, how he made sure every character had a story and one way or the other connected.

Overall this was a really good book I’ll be recommending for as long as I can.

[Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book lives up to its title! I was entertained from start to finish.

[Dumebi Agbam · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title truly captures the essence of the book—it’s packed with scandal at every turn.

While the beginning may feel a bit overwhelming due to the large cast of characters, once you familiarize yourself with them, the story becomes captivating. I love how unexpected the ending was!

[gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

the storyline was amazing. i was captivated through every page. i did feel that towards the end, the plot was getting so intense that the author faltered with the storytelling.

[Faith Naankwat · Rating 3 out of 5]

"For my first book, I cannot promise perfection, but I guarantee you an amazing story." I dived into this read with this ringing in my head, so I truly wasn't expecting much. First of all, I think there were a lot of characters that I kept mixing one with another, and also, I didn't like the manner in which dialogues were portrayed in the book. However, I did enjoy the storyline; I'm glad that Tanko got the end he did; I think he's an awful person, happy that Farida found happiness again, but I must say I am extremely unhappy about Zainab, whom I must add is my favorite character. It was a good read overall, and I believe the author's writing style will greatly improve with more books, which I hope to read.

[Zahra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The storytelling was poor but the storyline was good I can’t lie🙂‍↕️

[Muhsinat 'Deen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was chaotic and sometimes confusing but you can use it to pass time.

[Uche · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truly chaotic. Started off annoyed at the amateur storytelling but the stories themselves were very entertaining and interesting. Too many characters at the beginning, kept mixing them up and so much back story! In the end, I’m happy with how the author subtly delivers key elements and ‘lessons’.

This read like a very long chat between two friends and I’d recommend it as a feel good book especially when you’re in that space where you don’t want to read anything too heavy. But what happened to madam finance who started all the unraveling? lol

[Faith Chollom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book and I see what the author was trying to do (messy and chaotic and I lived for it). Good mix of plot and characterization. The only issue I had is I think he was over explaining some things rather than just leaving it to the reader to figure it out.
Other than that a good read. Finished it two days. This is what Only Big bum bum matters tomorrow wants to be!

[Sage · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending part was amazingggggg. The suspense, the emotions. I'm really sad about how Zainab ended. Tanko's end was ittt 'he had no limbs' I would have screamed but I was in a class. Altin, the man you are! Faridaaaa my ICON and total DIVA.

[Deborah Adoga · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maitama Linen has a good storyline, but it was terribly written. I still don’t understand the hype around the book. There are so many irrelevant characters and were all those backstories even necessary?

[Nana Nana Banana Zing Zang · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it a lot. The ending was okay, not too crazy about it. It was also hard to recall all the characters after a while but wow.

[Firdaws · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is just chaotic. Interesting read but I will leave it as just that. I need to read more books set in Abuja

[Georgia Uchenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a lot going on in this book. A lot of characters link but the author was able to give kill every story and links.

It's a 5/5 for me.

[Liza B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Wow. Wow.

[Aaayat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved everything but the ending was unnecessary. Cant wait for the second book

[Dheereads · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so chaotic and not in a good way. I also had to deal with the writer's barely disguised fetishes while reading the way he wrote about the female characters. Would not recommend

[By Habibat · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was so disjointed and many loopholes, too many story line at once and the author still made it look chunky and overwhelming. TMI in my opinion. I didn't like it one bit

[Nans Bello · Rating 2 out of 5]

The immediate derailment of the plot really did it for me loooooool. I went from reading about the scandalous lives of abuja elites to some Turkish action blockbuster. I was so confused