Wahala
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  • Published: 6 January 2022
  • ISBN: 9781473591400
  • Imprint: Transworld Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 384

Wahala

The hottest debut of 2022

Formats & editions
EBook
6 Jan 2022
Audiobook
6 Jan 2022
Paperback
23 May 2023
Hardback
6 Apr 2022
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Sensational debut novel from a bright new voice: a mixed race 'Sex and the City' with a killer edge: for fans of EXPECTATION, QUEENIE and MY SISTER THE SERIAL KILLER. Soon to be a major BBC TV adaptation.

'This has bestseller written all over it. Fast-paced, funny, shocking, unputdownable. I loved it' PAULA HAWKINS
'I just raced through Wahala. Nikki May writes so well about friendship, food, fashion and the many ways modern women can stumble in their careers and personal lives' CLARE CHAMBERS, author of Small Pleasures
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Ronke, Simi and Boo are inseparable mixed-race friends living in London. They have the gift of two cultures, Nigerian and English, though not all of them choose to see it that way.

Everyday racism has never held them back, but now in their thirties, they question their future. Ronke wants a husband (he must be Nigerian); Boo enjoys (correction: endures) stay-at-home motherhood; while Simi, full of fashion career dreams, rolls her eyes as her boss refers to her urban vibe yet again.

When Isobel, a lethally glamorous friend from their past arrives in town, she is determined to fix their futures for them. Cracks in their friendship begin to appear, and it is soon obvious Isobel is not sorting but wrecking. When she is driven to a terrible act, the women are forced to reckon with a crime in their past that may just have repeated itself.

A darkly comic and bitingly subversive take on love, race and family, Wahala will have you laughing, crying and gasping in horror. Boldly political about class, colorism and clothes, here is a truly inclusive tale that will speak to anyone who has ever cherished friendship, in all its forms.
  • Published: 6 January 2022
  • ISBN: 9781473591400
  • Imprint: Transworld Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 384
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About the author

Nikki May

Born in Bristol and raised in Lagos, Nikki May is Anglo-Nigerian. Her critically acclaimed debut novel WAHALA won the Comedy Women In Print New Voice Prize, was longlisted for the Goldsboro Glass Bell Award and the Diverse Books Award, and is being turned into a major BBC TV drama series. THIS MOTHERLESS LAND is her second novel. Nikki lives in Dorset with her husband, two standard Schnauzers and way too many books. She should be working on her third book but is probably reading. Twitter/X: @NikkiOMay Instagram: @NikkiMayWriter

portrait photo of Nikki May

Also by Nikki May

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Praise for Wahala

I have a feeling this book is going to be huge! It examines friendships that are held together by the thinnest of threads, all the doubts and questions that come from the choices women face, self-destruction, good intentions, bad intentions and a creeping sense of... well, trouble

MARIANNE CRONIN, author of THE ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF LENNI AND MARGOT

Dazzling and bursting with life. WAHALA is as joyous, complex and all-encompassing as female friendship itself. I loved it.

TAMMY COHEN, author of THE WEDDING PARTY

WAHALA hooked me from page one and kept me enthralled till the (TWIST!) end. A riot of colour and noise, friendships, enemies, secrets, lies and soul food. Written with a lightness of touch. Insightful, clever, and honest. I will read anything and everything she writes

ERICKA WALLER, author of DOG DAYS

I just raced through Wahala. Nikki May writes so well about friendship, food, fashion and the many ways modern women can stumble in their careers and personal lives

CLARE CHAMBERS, author of SMALL PLEASURES

LOVED Wahala. Funny and sharp - I completely fell in love with the characters. Definitely one to add to your list

LAURA MARSHALL, Author of FRIEND REQUEST

Dark, fresh, compelling - all about female friendship and with an outstanding cast of vibrant loveable (and not-so-loveable) characters

ELIZABETH KAY, Author of SEVEN LIES

Wildly entertaining

THE BOOKSELLER

Fast-paced and filled with witty dialogue, and the book explores the depth and complexity of friendships between women

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