Buried In Print

Countless contemporary novels have taken the landscape of the monogamous marriage and its secrets as their subject, so it’s hardly surprising that a polygamous marriage, like that of Baba Segi, has an abundance of secrets with which to fill the pages of Lola Shoneyin’s debut novel.

The dynamics of a marriage — or four marriages — create for terrific creative tension, across cultures, across continents. Whether it be the relationship between husband and wife, or the relationships between husband and wives, there are recognizable patterns, both in and out of Africa.

But this is not Karen Blixen’s Out of Africa. Nobody has a farm at the foot of any hills. There are no long descriptive passages about Ibadan, Nigeria.

So although The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives has an African setting, and although it’s hard to imagine it set elsewhere, the setting seems to be as much about emotional terrain as geographical roots.

More about this one here.