Vanessa Walters's American debut, The Nigerwife, is a gripping work of suspense, a psychological puzzle, a mystery, and a critique of marriage and high society. The prologue begins: "Nicole often wondered what had happened to the body." This foreshadowing refers to a body floating in a trash-filled Lagos lagoon, viewed from the home of a young woman who had recently left London to join her Nigerian-born husband. This narrative perspective, "Nicole, Before," defines every other chapter of the novel, interspersed with the viewpoint of "Claudine, After." The pivotal event of these dual timelines is Nicole's disappearance, which gives the prologue's opening line new and sinister meaning.
Nicole spent years in Lagos with her husband, Tonye, and their two young sons. She ceased communication with her family in London and formed and dissolved friendships both in and out of a club called the Nigerwives. For Nicole--and perhaps for other Nigerwives before her--that adventure would end badly. Between fancy dress and art openings, social posturing and boating parties, she struggled to keep her sanity and independence.
In the days after Nicole goes missing, the aunt who raised her travels to Lagos to look for answers. Claudine does not know Tonye's family well and is dismayed to find how little the family or the police seem to be doing to find Nicole. As their timelines progress, Claudine and Nicole each work separately to sort out the family issues that drove them apart. This engrossing novel both entertains, with the mystery at its heart, and provokes questions that go far beyond Nicole's personal story. --Julia Kastner, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia