First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

An incisive and exhilarating debut novel following three Anglo-Nigerian best friends and the lethally glamorous fourth woman who infiltrates their group – the most unforgettable girls since Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda.

RONKE wants happily ever after and 2.2 kids. She’s dating Kayode and wants him to be “the one” (perfect, like her dead father). Her friends think he’s just another in a long line of dodgy Nigerian boyfriends.

BOO has everything Ronke wants – kind husband, gorgeous child. But she’s frustrated, unfulfilled, plagued by guilt, and desperate to remember who she used to be

SIMI is the golden one with the perfect lifestyle. No one knows she’s crippled by impostor syndrome and tempted to pack it all in each time her boss mentions her “urban vibe.” Her husband thinks they’re trying for a baby. She’s not.

When the high-flying, charismatic ISOBEL explodes into the group, it seems at first she’s bringing out the best in each woman. (She gets Simi an interview in Shanghai! Goes jogging with Boo!) But the more Isobel intervenes, the more chaos she sows, and Ronke, Simi and Boo’s close friendship begins to crack.

A sharp, modern take on friendship, ambition, culture and betrayal, Wahala (trouble) is an unforgettable novel from a brilliant new voice.

Happy Friday everyone! It is time to plunge into the weekend. I hope that everyone is ending the week on a high note. Luckily here in the Philippines, we will be having a second long weekend in a row; the 28th is a holiday here. That means more days to rest. For some, it allows more days to travel. Had I not been lazy lately, I might have gone out and traveled, even if just for a couple of days. To everyone who is traveling tonight, I hope that you reach your destination safely. I hope you will enjoy your holiday. As for me, an extra day will allow me to catch up on my writing and reading backlogs. HAHA. Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well, in mind, body, and spirit.

But before I can strip my corporate mask and don a more comfortable ensemble, let me close the work week with a fresh First Impression Friday update. This has become a weekly tradition and one that I have come to look forward to as it provides me a checkpoint upon which to evaluate the book I am currently reading. As the month draws to a close, I am trying to finish as many works of African literature as I can; why does time feel like it is going too fast. We are just a couple of days away from greeting September and I still have a couple of books lined up for this month. The final stretch of the year is going to be bloody as I will, once again, be cramming books that are part of my reading challenges.

With many more books to read, all I can do is march forward. Currently, I am reading Nkki May’s Wahala. I first encountered the book back in early 2022 when I was looking for books to include in my 2022 Top 10 Books I Look Forward To List. Unfortunately, it was only this year that I was able to obtain a copy of the book. Since I already have a copy of the book, including it in my August 2023 African Literature Month seemed the most logical step. This only underlined the pull that Nigerian literature – my most explored part of African literature – has on me.

May’s debut novel, Wahala was set in contemporary London where the readers were introduced to three female friends who were already in their mid-thirties. The first one was Simisola (Simi). Born to a once-affluent family, she dropped out of her college degree and eventually became a fashion marketer. She is happily married to Martin but the couples are childless. The second character was Ronke. A dentist, she was born to a family of humble origins. She was in a relationship with Kayode. Completing the trio was Bukola (Boo). She was a research scientist who had to give up her job once she gave birth to Sofia, her daughter. She became a housewife. They were Nigerians who first met at a university in Bristol seventeen years prior.

In their midst came Isobel, a Nigerian-Russian woman. She was rich and was Simi’s childhood friend; the other two never heard of her until she simply popped into their life. The stability of their friendship was about to get tested by Isobel. She was cunning and a notorious gossip who had the compunction to create scenarios that would destabilize the friendship of the three women. Individually, Simi, Boo, and Ronke had their own concerns. Martin wanted a child but the idea of having children simply does not appeal to Simi. Ronke, on the other hand, had to deal with a string of toxic and abusive boyfriends. Kayode seemed to provide the stability she wanted but her friends did not like him. Boo was stuck at home looking after their child but she still yearns for the thrill of the workplace.

With Isobel’s growing presence in their lives, the three women must confront all of this, including their own daddy issues. Simi was made to feel inadequate by her father because of her profession. Ronke’s father died when she was still eleven. Boo never met her father. Their mothers were all English women. But other questions slowly rise to the fore. Is Isobel really a villain? Or is she a vessel necessary for the three characters to confront their own personal histories and the concerns they have been evading for a long time? As cracks in their friendship start to manifest will the three women be able to survive the maelstrom brought about by the fourth woman in the group?

With the premise alone one can easily deduce what the story is about. It is a story about friendships and betrayal. It is also a story about family dynamics. With a couple of pages more to go, I can’t wait to see how the story pans out. The most obvious answer is that the three friends will realize what Isobel is doing to them and they will eventually reconcile. But what if the story is not as predictable as I make it out to be? I can’t wait to see. Or read. How about you fellow reader? What book or books are you taking with you for the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy them. Again, happy weekend everyone!