Published 6th January 2022 by Doubleday.
From the cover of the book:
Ronke, Simi, Boo are three mixed-race friends living in London.They have the gift of two cultures, Nigerian and English.
Not all of them choose to see it that way.
Everyday racism has never held them back, but now in their thirties, they question their future. Ronke wants a husband (he must be Nigerian); Boo enjoys (correction: endures) stay-at-home motherhood; while Simi, full of fashion career dreams, rolls her eyes as her boss refers to her urban vibe yet again.
When Isobel, a lethally glamorous friend from their past arrives in town, she is determined to fix their futures for them.
Cracks in their friendship begin to appear, and it is soon obvious Isobel is not sorting but wrecking. When she is driven to a terrible act, the women are forced to reckon with a crime in their past that may just have repeated itself.
Explosive, hilarious and wildly entertaining, this razor-sharp tale of love, race and family will have you laughing, crying and gasping in horror. Fearlessly political about class, colourism and clothes, the spellbinding Wahala is for anyone who has ever cherished friendship, in all its forms.
***********
Wahala is the glorious tale of three mixed race friends, Ronke, Boo and Simi, living in London, but with a foot in the two cultures that make up their identity - Nigeria and Britain. Each of them has done their best to fight against casual racism and forge ahead with their careers, but now in their thirties aspects of their personal lives have been brought into sharp focus and each of them is asking questions about what they want from the future - Ronke wants to get married and settle down, but her desire to have a Nigerian husband seems to be making this a tricky process; Boo is frustrated with her role as a stay-at-home mum and longs for some excitement and recognition in her life; and Simi wants to concentrate on her career at the cutting edge of fashion, but is constantly being limited to 'urban' projects by her boss, and as for her husband's desire to start a family... she's not overly keen.
The close relationship these three women have formed over the years is about to be disrupted by the arrival of Simi's childhood friend Isobel - also from Lagos and with mixed race heritage. Isobel seems keen to insert herself in the centre of their lives, ostensibly to get to know them all better, but her game-plan is far from friendly, and rather than helping them to achieve their dreams as she claims, her presence is a ticking time bomb set to blow their lives apart. What does she really want from them?
Wahala translates as trouble, which it certainly apt for the delicious story that unfolds in these pages, and in the telling of a tale that delivers on thrills, heart, intrigue and menace, Nikki May explores a whole host of themes.
The way May realistically portrays the complexity of female friendship between Ronke, Boo and Simi is a delight, threading their interactions with humour and the familiarity of women that have known each other through thick and thin. And yet, they have also reached a point in their lives where there is some reticence between them, fuelled by their frustrations and the expectations of those around them - and it is this that makes them prey to the machinations of the mysterious Isobel.
Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive, and deception is what Isobel does all too well. Once she worms her way into the lives of our trio, the macabre fun begins. Isobel knows exactly how to exploit the frustrations of these women for her own ends, and the seeds of her meddling soon bear the fruit of discord between Ronke, Boo and Simi as the tendrils of suspicion and jealousy force their way into the ever expanding cracks in their friendship. The tension builds ever so slowly, as you get caught up in the fallout of Isobel's scheming, dragging in the well-drawn partners of the three women too, until everything is blown apart with a shocking violent episode that echoes a traumatic event from the past that links them all together. It's all so beautifully done!
I find myself wanting to wax lyrical at the manner in which May examines the weight of expectation on Ronke, Boo and Simi and how it affects their friendship in a way that Anna Hope's novel Expectation doesn't even come close to (not to mention that you would actually want to be friends with these women, unlike Hope's), and I very much enjoy how she changes this up by bringing in the very best of the strands of Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams, in terms of delving into the racial complexities of romantic relationships, and the devilish mayhem of Oyinkan Braithwaite's My Sister, the Serial Killer.
I think it also asks an interesting question that despite their claim to enjoy the gifts of two cultures, are they actually confined by the expectations and prejudices of them both instead? In any case, I adore how May smashes apart the 'mixed-race' stereotype through the enormously differing attitudes Ronke, Boo, and Simi have towards the 'Lagos' part of their lives, and how much they incorporate this facet of their cultural make-up into their own identities. And talking of Lagos... my goodness this book really does bring a little bit of that melting pot of a city into grey old London-town through the language, fashion and especially through Ronke's passion for the food!
Wahala was on my list of most anticipated reads this January, and it has ticked every box for me. I was hooked from the start to the end, desperate to discover all its secrets and yet unwilling for it to be over. I would dearly love it if May revisited the lives of these women by writing a sequel sometime in the future, because I need to know what happens next!
Wahala is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats from your favourite book retailer.
Thank you to Doubleday for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review. I have purchased the beautiful Waterstones limited edition too.
About the author:
No comments:
Post a Comment