This month, we look at the superb book written by Lola Shoneyin- The secret lives of baba Segi’s wives. The readers are immediately introduced to the character of baba Segi as a man in a polygamous relationship. He has married three wives with seven children.
In the opening, the readers also learn that he took a fourth wife whom he has labelled as the “graduate wife”. He appears to be very boastful when he describes the fourth wife to his friend “teacher”. This shows that the other wives are uneducated.
The book showcases a marital power play where Iya Segi -the first wife- controls the household although baba Segi is the head of the house. Throughout the book, it can be seen how the rest of the two wives are afraid of butting heads with Iya Segi with the fear that she will ruin them.
A lot of secrets unravel in every chapter of the book which leaves the readers gasping for the next series of events. Each wife has a secret that baba Segi does not know about. However the truth always comes to light somehow. In this case, the fourth wife spinned the wheels in motion.
Bolanle- the fourth wife- is described by the other wives as the evil one who came into the household as a hurricane to throw everything upside down and ruin the norm of the household. They wanted her out of the house by any means. There actions caused their downfall. With the knowledge that the fourth wife cannot get pregnant, a visit to the hospital to sort out the problem is what started the end of their circus
Truly this book is quite remarkable, the language used by Shoneyin is quite relatable to the people living in West African, you can say that its indeed African. The author also touches on matters that face the society which include the problems of being uneducated. Some of the things done by the characters could be easily avoided if they were educated.
Grab yourself the book and have fun reading. Chances are you would not put the book down until you finish it.
By Vanessa Mwingira
The Tanzanian Times 