African-born poet Lola Shoneyin makes her fiction debut with The Secret Lives of Babi Segi’s Wives, a perceptive, entertaining, and eye-opening novel of polygamy in modern-day Nigeria. The struggles, rivalries, intricate family politics, and the interplay of personalities and relationships within the complex private world of a polygamous union come to life in The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives—Big Love and The 19th Wife set against a contemporary African background.

The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

Shoneyin, Lola

Dramas & Plays

William Morrow

African-born poet Lola Shoneyin sheds a fascinating light on the little-known world of polygamy in modern-day Nigeria, in her powerful and thought-provoking debut novel, The Secret Lives of the Four Wives (previously titled The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives). Fans of The 19th Wife and HBO’s Big Love will be enthralled by this riveting tale of a prosperous African family thrown into turmoil when the patriarch adds a young, well-educated fourth wife into the mix who threatens to expose the other wives’ deepest, darkest secrets.
“Alternately funny, shocking, and sad . . . a complex depiction of family and culture in modern-day Nigeria. —Sacramento Book Review
“A magical writer. . . . [A] delicious story.”—Huffington Post

The Secret Lives of the Four Wives: A Novel

Genre Fiction

William Morrow Paperbacks

SOON TO BE A NETFLIX SERIES! 
Award-winning author Lola Shoneyin delivers an irresistible and entertaining story of marriage, family, power, and heartache set in modern-day Nigeria in her debut novel.\nWhen Baba Segi woke up with a bellyache for the sixth day in a row, he knew it was time to do something drastic about his fourth wife’s childlessness. 
For Baba Segi, his collection of wives and gaggle of children are a symbol of prosperity, success, and a validation of his manhood. All is well in this patriarchal home, until Baba arrives with wife number four, a quiet, college-educated, young woman named Bolanle. Jealous and resentful of this interloper who is stealing their husband’s attention, Baba’s three wives, begin to plan her downfall. How dare she not know her place, they whisper. How dare she offer to teach them to read. They will teach her instead, they vow, and open their husbands eyes to this wicked wind who has upturned the tranquility of their home. 
Bolanle’s mother worked hard to educate her daughter and save her from a life of polygamy and dependence. She cannot understand why her daughter has chosen such a fate. But Bolanle hides a terrible secret—a secret that will unwittingly exposes the deception and lies, secrets and shame upon which Baba Segi’s household rests. 
A stirring rale of men and women, mothers and children, servitude and independence, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives illuminates the common threads that connect the experiences of all women: the hardships they bear, their struggle to define themselves, and their fierce desire to protect those they love.

The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives

Contemporary

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Legal Theory & Systems

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City-dwelling Mayowa is unhappy because he has been told he will be visiting his grandmother in Ilisan, Nigeria. When he gets there, Grandma pairs him up with the ever-hungry, fun-loving Denuyi. Together, they explore the town and all its wonders. The boys chase grasshoppers, dip their feet into a stream, visit piglets, climb a tree… and join in with a masquerade parade! By the time he returns to Lαgos, Mαyowa has learnt that there is more to life than computer games.

Mayowa and the Masquerades

Children's Books

Humor

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Baba Segi, ses épouses, leurs secrets

Literary

Actes-sud

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Libros de las Malas Compañías

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Books by Shoneyin, Lola