Quick Reads: The Baby Is Mine by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Published: May 27th, 2021
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Format: Paperback, Kindle

Happy Publication Day to this year’s Quick Reads. Thank you to Midas PR, the Reading Agency and Atlantic Books for gifting me this Quick Read.

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SYNOPSIS:

When his girlfriend throws him out during the pandemic, Bambi has to go to his Uncle’s house in lock-down Lagos. He arrives during a blackout, and is surprised to find his Aunty Bidemi sitting in a candlelit room with another woman. They both claim to be the mother of the baby boy, fast asleep in his crib.

At night Bambi is kept awake by the baby’s cries, and during the days he is disturbed by a cockerel that stalks the garden. There is sand in the rice. A blood stain appears on the wall. Someone scores tribal markings into the baby’s cheeks. Who is lying and who is telling the truth?

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MY REVIEW:

The Baby is Mine is the first book I’ve read that is actually set during the pandemic. Darkly funny, claustrophobic and readable, it takes place in Nigeria during the first lockdown

Bambi has been kicked out by his girlfriend after being caught cheating and is forced to seek refuge with his recently widowed aunt and newborn cousin. When he arrives he is shocked to find another woman living there: his late uncle’s mistress. What’s more, both women are claiming the baby is their child. Who is telling the truth? 

This novella lived up to its Quick Read title. Short and not-so-sweet, this was an entertaining read with fascinating but unreliable characters. I liked that the story was told from Bambi’s point of view. A Casanova who believes it’s unnatural for men to be tied to just one woman, he isn’t a particularly likeable or sympathetic character at the start. But once he arrives at his Aunt Bidemi’s house things begin to change. Bidemi and Eshoe are caught up in their psychological games and battle over baby Remi and Bambi steps up, puting the child first and getting between the women to protect him. This makes him much more likeable, though he is still a flawed, misogynistic character. 

Bidemi and Eshoe are both crazy, unreliable and compelling characters. They are so well written that I was never sure who was telling the truth or what one of them would do next. Every time I thought I knew, something would happen and I’d be rethinking my conclusion. Their story reminded me a little of the judgement of Soloman in the bible, but thankfully Bambi didn’t offer to split little Remi in two to find out who his mother really was. 

If  you’re looking for a quick, fun, suspenseful read, then this is the book for you. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✰✰

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Oyinkan Braithwaite is a graduate of Creative Writing and Law from Kingston University. Following her degree, she worked as an assistant editor at a Nigerian Publishing House and has been freelancing as a writer and graphic designer since. She has had short stories published in anthologies and has also self-published work.

In 2014, she was shortlisted as a top ten spoken word artist in the Eko Poetry Slam. In 2016, she was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

She is the author of My Sister, the Serial Killer, which won the 2019 LA Times Award for Best Crime Thriller, the 2019 Morning News Tournament of Books, the 2019 Amazon Publishing Reader’s Award for Best Debut Novel, the 2019 Anthony Award for Best First Novel.

It was also shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019, shortlisted for the Goodreads Choice Awards 2019 in the Mystery & Thriller and Debut Novel categories, shortlisted for the British Book Awards 2020 in two categories, shortlisted for the Cameo Awards 2020 in the Book to Audio category, shortlisted for Book Bloggers’ Choice Awards 2020.

It was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2019, and longlisted for the 2020 Dublin Literary Award.

My Sister, the Serial Killer is being translated into 30 languages and has also been optioned for film.

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Thanks for reading Bibliophiles😊 Emma xxx