The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives

by Rotimi Babatunde, Lola Shoneyin

“Men are like yam, you cut them how you like.”

Baba Segi has three wives, seven children, and a mansion filled with riches. But now he has eyes on Bolanle, a young university graduate wise to life’s misfortunes. When Bolanle responds to Baba Segi’s advances, she unwittingly uncovers a secret which threatens to rock his patriarchal household to the core.

The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives Is a scandalous, engrossing take of sexual politics and family strife in modern day Nigeria. Lola Shoneyin’s bestselling novel bursts on to the stage in a vivid adaptation by Caine Award-winning playwright Rotimi Babatunde.

Genres: Africa, African Literature

111 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 7, 2018

Reviews

[Nicole Jean-Louis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever writing and characters you think you know or believe will fulfil a certain stereotype and they just don’t. This book got me out of my reading slump!

[Ann Wangui · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A real woman must always do the thing she wants to do, and in her own time too. You must never allow yourself to be rushed into doing the things you're not ready for"

[Granny Sebestyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bonjour les lecteurs ...
Voici un livre qui dormait dans ma Pal depuis longtemps et qui nous emmène au Nigeria.
Bolanle est une femme instruite mais qui a un lourd secret l'obligeant a épuiser Baba Segi et de devenir ainsi sa quatrième épouse.
Son arrivée n'est pas la bienvenue auprès des autres épouses et de leurs enfants. Son instruction dérange.
De plus Bolanle ne remplis pas sa mission.. devenir mère.
Petit à petit, le fragile équilibre familial vacille et la famille s'entredéchire .
Voici un roman bien sympathique.. une jolie lecture pour cet été.
En effet, l'auteure ne manque pas d'humour pour aborder ce sujet sensible qu'est la polygamie, le peu de place de la femme nigériane dans la société. Elle renonce à toute culture et autonomie pour se mettre au service de l'homme qui n'attend en retour qu'un ventre rebondi.
Sous son aspect vaudevillesque, voici un petit livre sérieux.

[Ademi Odari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baba Segi has three wives i.e Iya Segi,Iya Tope,Iya Femi.Seven children and a home filled with grand possessions(riches).As a man brought up in patriarchal milleu and driven by insertible lust in women,he sets his sights on Bolanle,a young university educated yet sophisticated with a tragic past.When she(Bolanle) joins this house as a fourth wife,she unwittingly uncovers the secret which threatens to destroy the patriarchal structures of his life.
I found the narrative intriguing,riveting, humorous and somewhat sombreas the writer deftly and coherently weaves the thread of the narrative into the tapestry against the canvas of feminism, rivalry,polygamy, assault,lack of women inheritance, sexuality, conflict etc onto the fabric of African culture with western feminist ideologies and principally showing that the two can co-exist.

[theleahperson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I flew through the first half in one sitting, and then forced myself to slow down and enjoy the rest. It was a great look at the world surrounding Baba Segi in a way that wasn’t really about him, and to be honest I came to empathize with him in the end. Really, each character was well rounded and even the ones I loved to hate were missed when the story was over. The weaving of different perspectives and timelines flowed really nicely, and I was very satisfied with the conclusion. No notes! I hope to read more of this authors work in the future.

[Mwalimu Oduol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it! This year, I'm trying to get out of my usual reading habits, and read a couple of books that wouldn't normally cross my path. This one, was one of them, recommended in a book club I recently joined. It was funny, short and contained -- in the sense that everything happens in the same place, but we really are taken on a interesting journey through the different characters experiences, and motivations. All in all a good book!

[Tuğçe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her şey Baba Segi’nin 4.eşiyle başlıyor. Eve gelen diğer eşlerden farklı, okumuş, bilgili ve üniversiteye gitmiş Bolanle. Kimse eğitimli birinin neden bu evliliği yaptığına anlam veremiyor. Bence Bolanle’de neden evlendiğini, ne aradığını bilmiyor. Ama kitap öyle bir yerde bitiyor ki aslında orada olmalıymış, bir nedeni varmış. Farklı bir okumaydı benim için. Hikaye tarzındaydı, yer yer sıkıldım ama hikayenin de nereye bağlanacağını merak ederek okudum.

[Jay Alabraba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful story. Well-written. I can't wait to see it on stage.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good play

Good play, good plot, good literary devices. One of the better ones of the new wave of African literature. Recommended

[Suzy Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very hard to keep characters straight, including narrators.

[Effiong Aniedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the book so much

[Isabel Ploeger · Rating 3 out of 5]

eindelijk uit my god

[lemoncurious · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10 marvelous writing plot everything was too good

[Amanda Gilmour · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started off unsure if I liked this book. Polygamy is not really something in my culture (ie multiple marriages is illegal, although poly relationships do exist and are reasonably commonplace), and i found Baba Segi to just be awful. I did not enjoy what I felt were misogynistic vibes.

But once I checked myself and took the book as it is- an insight into a family dynamic very different to my upbringing* I really enjoyed it.

I found the family dynamics really interesting and overall I did really enjoy the book.

*I realised a lot of what I didn't like about Baba Segi, were projections of my own father growing up. So really, multiple wives aside, the dynamic wasn't all that different. So that was a fun realisation.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing book

[Shelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humm... not sure how I feel about this one. Was ok, but not my usual page-turner.