The Secret Lives of the Four Wives - Softcover

Shoneyin, Lola

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061946389 ISBN 13: 9780061946387

Publisher: William Morrow & Company, 2011

Synopsis

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

About this title

Review

A funny and moving story told with love and compassion ... a jewel of a novel (Petina Gappah)

This deft, lightly spun story packs quite a punch. Shoneyin's unravelling of a family is rooted in and flavoured by Nigeria, but speaks more widely. It is a book you'll want to eat in a sitting - and then start again (Diran Adebayo)

This first novel is a compelling, unsettling tale of a polygamous household and the women within Baba Segi's walls. Shoneyin's sharply written portrait of a family and a nation gripped by the past, yet surging into modernity, manages to be funny, disconcerting and violent all at once. An utterly gripping read. (Patricia Duncker)

A rich debut... an engrossing and beautifully written domestic tale of polygamy and rivalry set in her native Nigeria. (N/A Harper's Bazaar 2010-03-01)

A Rabelaisian picture of polygamous marriage, comically capturing the physical realities of ordinary Nigerian life. (Giles Foden Pre-publication endorsement 2010-04-01)

Riveting... a truly compelling tale... (Davina Morris The Voice 2010-04-05)

An engrossing portrayal of a polygamous household... a rich portrait of a family on the verge of collapse. (Yasmin Sulaiman The List 2010-04-01)

Riotous... this debut novel is a real eye-opener: a deft, compelling and unsettling tale. (Ailin Quinlan Irish Examiner 2010-05-10)

Vividly written with a poet's eye, this novel reveals its secrets with humour, verve and poignancy. (Beverley Naidoo N/A 2010-06-13)

Engrossing and throughly entertaining... Flavoured with humour, proverbs and malevolent feuding... (Travel Africa 2010-07-01)

Book Description

A riotous domestic African novel about rivalry, secrets and jealous wives

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0061946389
• ISBN 13: 9780061946387
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304