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The Secret Lives Of Baba Segi's Wives (2010)

by Lola Shoneyin(Favorite Author)

2.97 of 5 Votes: 7

ISBN

0061946370 (ISBN13: 9780061946370)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

William Morrow & Company

review 1: I read this book rather quickly lol. Um well, one thing I find striking about this story is that none of the character's are exaggerated. Nobody is perfectly good or perfectly bad, except Bolanle and we have a reason to be sympathetic to and hate every one, which is interesting. It would have been so easy for the writer to paint Baba Segi as the big bad polygamist, oppressing the women and adding mindlessly to his collection of wives and children but Baba Segi (Ishola) is as 'good' as a polygamist can be, I suppose. He showers his children with money, love and affection. He cares about their lives (to a degree) and he's not physically violent. He's innocuous. Actually, the worst that can be said of him is that he's an ignorant, chauvinist oaf but an oaf in an uneducated, p... moreitiable way such that one can almost pity Baba Segi's turn of fortunes at the end. Almost. This characterization, not restricted to Baba Segi, makes the story thoroughly compelling and honest but also gives the reader room to think for him/herself and decide what the 'moral' or lesson of the story is, or if there is any lesson to be learnt in the first place. This is scary cos a lot of people will end up going away with themes largely different from or conflicting with what the writer intended, an intention we'll never really know. But then, free-thinking. A good writer makes you think, makes you feel and makes you wonder and the writer does all three for me in a little under 250 pages. Best. I felt like the ending was kind of rushed & implausible though.
review 2: I enjoyed the style and plot unravelling in this book. I have to confess initially I was somewhat put off by the venom and hatred of the wives. However as the story develops and each chapter sheds new light onto each individual's motivations and life events, the book becomes more appealing. Bolanle's final release from her mental and physical prisons is a light at the end of the tunnel and restores the world's order for her life to continue along its rightful course. Good first impression of this author. less

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