The Nigerwife

I picked up this book looking forward to a crime novel set in a place I know very little about: Lagos, Nigeria. ‘The Nigerwives’ referenced in the title are a support group formed by all the women who have married wealthy Nigerians and have moved to Lagos to live a life of ease and luxury – maybe. The term made me think of TV shows like The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Lagos is vastly different to LA, although there are some similarities when reading between the lines, and the wives certainly live rich and privileged lives – if materialism is the apex of your ambition.

Nicole is a young Jamaican British woman who comes from a poor and complicated family suffering the fallout of intergenerational trauma from abuse rooted in the history of colonial slavery – which nobody wants to acknowledge, let alone talk about. She marries a handsome, charming and rich (oops, already!) Nigerian man she meets at university in London while she is studying law. Nicole moves to Lagos with him after the birth of their first child.

Tonye’s family are rich thanks to Nigerian oil. They live in a protected, gated community in a society becoming increasingly fragmented, just as the lives of the protagonists also begin to fragment. This is due in some part to the impending civil unrest, but not entirely. There are conflicts around living traditional lives loaded with Western consumerism and behaviours, unresolved family tensions, and loss. The action begins when Nicole goes missing and her aunt from London hotfoots it to Lagos to find out what has happened to her estranged niece.

It is a mystery novel of sorts, with many elements swirling around the characters and their many issues. Predominant are the continuing legacies of the slave trade in and from Africa, appalling attitudes towards women across the board, and a society in great flux.