The top floor of Maryland Mall on the 25th August gathered some of the most enthusiastic book lovers, members of the Mainland Book Café. We have featured the Mainland Book Café on our weekend events article twice, and this time, we attended.

Hosted by Tosyn of the Syncity blog, these book lovers welcomed one of the most influential writers in the Nigerian literary sphere. The engine behind the Ake Festival and Kabafest happening in the latter third of the year, Lola Shoneyin, was kind enough to discuss her book and the circumstances surrounding it.

It was obviously a terrific time with the matriarch. The Book Café picked her novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, as their book of the month. The members then spent the past three weeks poring over the story, characters and mysteries in the book. They asked the author a lot of questions.

Lola Shoneyin answered these questions.

She explained warmly the themes of the novel, from its deep roots in polygamy to the message it carried to the women of its generation. Lola touched on a lot of issues regarding religion and Africanism.

The discussions ended by 4 PM. Subsequently, there were book signings and pictures taken with the author. Also, Lola Shoneyin ever so gracefully answered the questions of the fans that stayed back. And then, the Mainland Book Café presented a little gift to Lola Shoneyin after the event; a customised pillow with her book cover on it!

The Mainland Book Café promises to hold their book club every last Sunday of the month. The next book of the month is non-fiction by Roxanne Gay. The club holds their meetings in the Workstation Space in Maryland Mall from 2 PM to 4 PM.

Register and attend at (website or ticket site).

Don’t be late. You will miss out on a lot of fun.