The new debut novel Wahala by Nikki May caught my eye with its striking cover design and online buzz. A book that looks good and reads good is a good catch. I was besotted with the girl drama between three thirty five -something British Nigerian women living in London.
Ronke, Boo, and Simi became thick friends at university, bonding over their mixed-race heritage (white mothers, Nigerian fathers). They have been each other’s support system through thick and thin—dodgy boyfriends, med school, dropping out of college, finding love, and parenting. Ronke is a dentist. She adores her Nigerian heritage, remains super close with her aunt, misses her father, dates Nigerian men, and dreams of marriage and domestic bliss. But she can’t make her boyfriend Kayode‚ known for standing her up at dates and group plans—to commit. Boo and Simi do not like Kayode though Ronke is blind to his faults. Boo basically lives Ronke’s dream life. She is happily (or not) married to a French man Didier, and has a lovely toddler Sophia (who adores Aunty Ronke) and has a great job. Simi is in a long-distance relationship with Martin. She struggles with imposter syndrome at work and secrets at home—she is on the pill while Martin thinks they are trying for a baby. Three’s good company but when there are four, there’s wahala (Yoruba for trouble).
The wahala begins when rich girl Isobel, Simi’s childhood friend, infiltrates the close-knit group. She comes with blond weaves, jokes, big money, side boob peek at lunch, shopping craze, flashy outfits and unbridled energy. She becomes the go-to friend as the girl group starts showing cracks, whether texting Boo encouraging her flirty secret life with her boss, or listening to Simi’s confessions. The strong friendship of seventeen years crumbles in Isobel’s presence. She attracts gossips, scandals and destruction. Boo is now swiping cards on shopping sprees and suspecting Ronke of being jealous of her perfect family. The lovely Ronke questions if her friends are as supportive towards her as she is to them. Simi is torn between taking up a new job, and transparency in her relationship. Wahala takes us through the lives of these women in great detail— Ronke is mistaken for an assistant at her dental practice, Simi’s workplace casts her in projects for the ‘urban’ vibe for tokenism, Boo’s boss fancies her and also calls her afro exotic.
I loved Wahala for not being what the Western audience expects a book by a POC to be. There are no morals to be learnt, no trauma lessons that make the lives of non-white characters palatable to the white audience, and no one-dimensional poverty takes. The women in Wahala are ambitious and financially stable. They live their lives to the fullest and have each other’s backs. They are driven, make bad decisions and throw a good fight. But the novel isn’t without stereotypes. The white men, Martin and Didier, are supportive and compassionate to their wives and the Nigerian men are flaky, unreliable, often abandoning their families. The ending was too abrupt, but it also shook me from my comfy chair shouting ‘What?’. The novel also fell short in the familiar kind where you wonder by the end, why was the ‘secret’—that keeps the plot going forward—kept a secret? Many themes like internalized racism were touched upon, but not explored in deep. Though I loved the three girls, Isobel remains a caricature of evil energy for plot progression, and nothing more. I also wished we could see more of some characters than be pushed into a quick ending.
But honestly, at the end of the read, I was thoroughly entertained by the girl group. I loved the peppy dialogues, women problems (both domestic and professional), messy situations, cooking sessions, hair salon chats—everything. You will feel like you were friends for a long time with the fabulous women in the novel. Wahala is a juicy novel that makes you feel as invested as your favourite soap opera. A must-have beach read for the 2022 summer.
Girl friendships, drama, messy trouble—WAHALA by Nikki May is a juicy read Click To Tweet
Pin this book review of WAHALA by Nikki May
Subscribe
Satchel Notes, a monthly newsletter about books, curated culture pieces on the internet, creativity and other awesome sauce could be in your inbox. Subscribe!
YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY
Book list : Obsession, scams and drama
I really enjoyed this – I loved that it didn’t pander to White readers and explain everything (I’m quite able to look things up!) and gave an insight into Nigerian British women’s lives. And it was also unputdownable, right? My review from January here https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2022/01/24/book-review-nikki-may-wahala/