Q: Can you tell us a bit about The Parlour Wife and what inspired you to write it?

The Parlour Wife is a historical fiction novel about finding self fulfillment through empowerment. It is set in 1940’s Lagos, Nigeria during WW2 and follows the life of Kehinde, a young woman who has to fight against societal norms to make the kind of decisions she is proud of.

I’m an avid reader of historical fiction myself, and over the years, it struck me that I knew hardly anything about colonial Nigeria or even much about Nigeria during world war two despite it being my home country. The first blocks of the story started to form when I was speaking to my paternal grandmother about growing up in colonial Nigeria, in a polygamous home. I simultaneously found myself wondering what the lives of the women sharing one husband under the same roof was like, and also what it would have been like to do that in 1940s colonial Lagos.

Q: How does the setting of Lagos in 1939 play into the story? 

Nigeria in 1939 was still a colony of the British empire, and Lagos with its access to the ports was a major commercial hub of not just the country, but the West African region. This meant that Lagos was important for its resources to the empire, and as such had a strong colonial presence. For my characters, this meant having to live and abide by many of the colonial rules and regulations in place at the time, not to mention living through a war they had no say over.

Lagos in 1939 like most societies around the world was also quite patriarchal, and for Kehinde in particular, this meant that she had very little autonomy in her decision making. Her father was responsible for her before she got married, and once she got married, her husband. This setting made Kehinde’s acts of rebellion more of a big deal than they would be today.

Q: Kehinde is such a powerful protagonist. How did you develop her character?

I tried to imagine some of the strongest women I know today, existing in a society that never imagined they could have desires contrary to what was expected of them and how they would react to that kind of pressure. I also wanted Kehinde’s growth over the course of her story to show the internal struggle she faced between wanting to live a fulfilled life, even if that meant shrugging off the shackles of duty and compliance.

Q: You tackle themes like arranged marriage and gender roles. Why were these important for you to explore in the novel? 

Although these are still themes that women face today, I wanted to explore them in a setting where women had even less empowerment to defy stereotypes. I also wanted to highlight the strong link between self empowerment and self fulfillment. Oftentimes, gender roles and arranged marriages mean that women in those positions are not empowered to make their own decisions and I wanted to explore what breaking out of the mold of such expectations would look like for a woman in 1940s Lagos in an entertaining way.

Q: How does Kehinde’s relationship with her family shape her journey? 

Kehinde is very close to her twin brother, and doesn’t like to disappoint her parents, so her default is always to question her wants and needs based on how her actions would affect her family. A big part of Kehinde’s internal struggle at the beginning of the book is about feeling like she’s at the mercy of her parents and unable to make her own decisions, which is something that doesn’t come naturally to many women in traditional, conservative homes. As her story evolves, we see Kehinde begin to have more agency as she intentionally puts aside her family’s expectations of her.

Q: What message do you hope readers take away from The Parlour Wife?

I want readers to put down The Parlour Wife with an understanding that having a life that you’re proud of is never easy, regardless of what year you’re born. To be fulfilled, you have to be prepared to fight for what you want, and to go after your dreams even if that means going against society’s expectations.

Q: What are you working on next?

I’m in the early stages of editing my second book with my publishers, One More Chapter. It’s a contemporary fiction, post covid, family drama also set in Lagos Nigeria and I can’t wait to be able to share more about that over the coming months.