Wahala
Nigeria

Wahala

by Nikki May

Friendship Mystery Contemporary Fiction Fiction 2022

Summary

Wahala follows three Nigerian-British women—Ronke, Simi, and Boo—who have been friends since university and are navigating their thirties in London. Ronke longs for a family of her own, Simi is trying to balance her marriage with her ambitions, and Boo struggles with the demands of motherhood and a life that feels increasingly disconnected from her former self. Their carefully balanced friendship begins to unravel when Isobel, a glamorous woman with Nigerian roots, enters their lives.

As Isobel becomes increasingly involved in their relationships, long-buried insecurities, secrets, and rivalries begin to surface. Blending dark humour with suspense, Nikki May’s novel explores the complexities of female friendship, cultural identity, race, class, and the expectations placed on women. Moving between British and Nigerian cultural influences, Wahala examines how the desire to belong—and the fear of being left behind—can make even the closest relationships vulnerable to manipulation and betrayal.

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Country
Nigeria
Africa
About the author
Nikki May
Nikki May

Nikki May is a British-Nigerian novelist known for her vibrant, character-driven fiction exploring friendship, family, cultural identity, race, and the experiences of women navigating different social worlds. Born and raised in Nigeria, she later moved to England, and her bicultural background strongly influences her storytelling. Her debut novel, Wahala (2022), follows three Nigerian-British women whose long-standing friendship is disrupted by the arrival of a charismatic newcomer, examining the tensions between loyalty, ambition, and personal identity. Her second novel, This Motherless Land (2024), reimagines Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations through the intertwined lives of two cousins growing up in Nigeria and England. May combines humor, family drama, and sharp social observation to explore belonging, generational expectations, and the complexities of living between cultures.

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Details
Published
2022
Author
Nikki May