For a polygamist such as Baba Segi, stacking wives and children is a symbol of prosperity, success and manhood. It has been two years since his marriage to Bolanle, intelligent, well-read and twenty years younger than him. Her arrival into the household awakens the hatred among the other three wives. Bolanle soon realizes that in order to make herself respected by the others she will have to become a mother. However, months go by and she does not get pregnant. This situation threatens to stir up the family stability because, without knowing it, it will reveal a secret the rest of the women want to keep by all means.

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With audacity and humor, Lola Shoneyin addresses a social issue such as polygamy, without evading any of its psychological, economic or sexual aspects. She condemns the hypocrisy of contemporary Nigeria, which praises motherhood and denies all autonomy to women. Shoneyin writes an ironic and irreverent that is also a hymn to female emancipation.