This was an engaging exploration of friendship, betrayal, and identity with sharp, witty writing and plenty of drama. I especially enjoyed the balance of humor and tension

This story transcends time and space so beautifully. Lasting across two decades and multiple countries, This Motherless Land speaks to the power of women's relationships and shared trauma. I appreciated the messaging about finding belonging in shared experiences, and how we can try to heal from past mistakes.

This is an excellent story told in a way that addresses family strife and longstanding damage based on conflict but especially prejudices and racism both within the family and society. Funke is an unfortunate and tragic character in her early life, being abandoned by her father after her mother’s death then sent from Nigeria to her wealthy English family who have little interest in helping her learn and adapt to the new culture. Her only ally is her cousin, Liv who takes Funke under her wings and the girls become close as they grow up. Unfortunately, Liv is troubled (and who wouldn’t be surrounded by such a horrible family) and eventually, she becomes unable to support Funke when she needs her the most. Liv can be viewed as an unlikable character but she really doesn’t stand a chance against her racist and immoral family. Funke is the real star, becoming a successful adult against the odds of having to adapt and re-adapt to unexpected moves across continents and adopt a new culture each time. The story raps up nicely in a happily ever after for Liv and Funke (as much as possible considering that racism will always be present) and the horribles getting their comeuppance. Overall, a very enjoyable read.

Funke is Nigerian, and she loves her life. But when tragedy strikes, she's sent to England to live with relatives. She and her cousin, Liv, form a bond that they think can't be broken—until it is.

This is a story of mothers, ambition, and life. I absolutely loved it.

"This Motherless Land" is an intense and thought-provoking novel that takes a deep dive into themes of identity, grief, and belonging. The author’s writing is raw and beautifully crafted, drawing you in with vivid descriptions and emotional depth. The characters feel real, and their struggles with family and personal trauma are so relatable. It’s a heavy read, but in the best way, and really makes you reflect on what it means to heal. The pacing is solid, though there are moments where the narrative feels a bit slow. Overall, it’s an impactful, emotional journey that sticks with you long after.

This book was packed full of tension and angst. The story of Funke and Liv was heartbreaking and frustrating. The author did a wonderful job of weaving a story and keeping me hooked.

What a spectacular book! Spanning twenty years and two continents, This Motherless Land is a decolonial retelling of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park. Class, color, legacy, and morality are all at the core of this family saga following two cousins over the course of their formative years. With flawed characters and passionate messaging, This Motherland Land is one that will stick with you for a long time.

At 10 years old, Funke lives an idyllic life in Lagos, Nigeria. She has a caring art teacher mother, a devoted academic father, and a little brother with big ambitions of his own. Funke’s perfect world is rocked after a tragic accident upends her family unit, and she is sent to live with her mother’s disapproving English relatives. In England, Funke, now called Kate, is met with opposition mainly from her maternal aunt, but finds solace in her cousin Liv, an excitable girl her own age. The duration of the story is told through Liv and Funke’s perspectives from ages 10 to 30 after misunderstandings and moral obligations drive them down varying paths. It is a powerful show of familial bonds, highly captivating from start to finish.

I was mesmerized by the characters in this novel. Funke and Liv are beautifully fleshed out and despite wanting to throttle Liv half the time, I love how their journey progressed. This book is a masterclass in characterization and it’s one of the best family saga’s I’ve read. There were moments when I could physically feel my heart ache for Funke and I am thrilled with where she and Liv both ended up at the novel’s conclusion. Though their life experiences differ, there is a lot of adoration between these two women and their bond is complete with all the messy, complicated emotions that real love entails.

The setting is described in immaculate detail, highlighting the vast differences between Nigeria and Britain. Comparisons between Lagos and England are deftly made, continuously referencing the dual identity that Funke/Kate adapts. Through these comparisons, we are able to sympathize with Funke’s unease as she is thrust into uncharted waters and understand the growth she undergoes after living amongst her English relatives.

This Motherless Land is not to be missed. It’s a miraculous reimagining that emphasizes the importance of identity and the fraught complexities of familial relationships. Bingeable and climactic, Nikki May’s newest novel will have you staying up past your bedtime to finish.

Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I LOVED this book! This coming of age story is perfection! I adored the main characters and I was rooting for them throughout the story. Funke and Liv are two characters I won't forget. Loved the Lagos and London settings. This is the story of two cousins who meet each other for the first time as young girls. Funke is devastated after her British mother passes away, and her Nigerian father sends her to live with her grandparents. Liv becomes her best friend, but a terrible scandal tears them apart at the age of 18. I was hoping for a reconciliation! Don't miss this story of family, of racism, of secrets, and about being honest and truthful.

I loved this book!

I read Wahala a few years ago and loved it, but there were a lot of character POVs and so much drama 😂. This one has the drama, but the POV is down to two and that is the perfect amount.

I sort of felt like while we had the two sisters, and it was supposed to be about both of their journeys, Liv got more of an arc and an ending than Funke, and we sort of lost Funke in the second half of the book which was a bummer.

Overall though it’s a great story, a quick read, and so much family drama! I’d definitely recommend picking up this and Wahala.

Thank you @marinerbooks for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved this book: the characters, the story line, the settings. Funke has a happy childhood in Nigeria, growing up,with her British White mom, her Nigerian Black father and her brother. When tragedy strikes, Funke is sent to England to live with her mother’s relatives, who rejected her mother for marrying a Black man. The only bright spot is her cousin Liv, who takes her under her wing. Their relationship is truly unique, but when tragedy strikes again, both women face new obstacles and challenges. I highly recommend this well written, emotionally moving novel. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This Motherless Land by Nikki May (@nikkimaywriter) is a retelling of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park. While Jane Austen’s references to race were subtle, May’s book takes the subject head on by setting our heroine Funke between two worlds (much further than Portsmouth and Mansfield Park!), Lagos, Nigeria and Somerset, England. This fresh take on Austen’s story is in its turns heart wrenching and heart warming. It is also complete with a funny nod to the first cousin situation ;).

Nikki May’s "This Motherless Land" is a beautifully crafted novel that explores identity, friendship, and resilience in the face of deep loss.

Set against a vivid Nigerian landscape, the characters feel real and relatable, with struggles and triumphs that resonate powerfully. May’s lyrical prose invites readers to experience the emotional depth of the narrative while immersing them in each setting.

The central characters, Quiet and Liv, are flawed yet endearing. They face the complexities of life with courage and honesty. Through authentic and messy relationships, May examines themes of belonging and displacement, skillfully portraying how family history and heritage shape the present. Her nuanced approach elevates the novel, creating a layered exploration of what it means to find "home" within oneself.

May’s vibrant descriptions transform Nigeria, making it a character in its own right, capturing both beauty and hardship. This sense of place deepens the novel’s emotional impact, making "This Motherless Land" a compelling story of healing, strength, and self-discovery. For lovers of immersive storytelling, this novel will linger long after the final page.

A beautiful novel filled with grief, jealousy, greed, but with love woven throughout the entire thing. At ten years old, Funke loses her mother and brother in a car accident and is sent from Nigeria to live with her grandparents in England. Here she meets Liv, her cousin and arguably her soulmate. Liv seems to embody the spirit of Funke's lost mother and helps her adjust to her new life in England. Flash forward eight years, and a tragic series of events takes place and leads to Liv believing Funke to be dead and Funke being exiled back to Nigeria and waiting for Liv to save her.

Motherlessness in this book takes on two forms. Funke is literally without her mother, having lost her as a child; however, after returning to Nigeria at eighteen, she constantly runs into people who share their positive memories of how her mother impacted them. While she may not physically have her mom, Funke has the love surrounding her constantly. Liv's mother (Margot) is very much present in her life, and it is that very presence that sets the course for the main conflict in this novel. Margot's greed and jealousy cause her to make a series of choices over decades that separate her from her mother and from her daughter and cause rifts that will never be healed and will leave Liv seemingly motherless.

This is May's second book after Wahala, and I found this one just as enjoyable.

This is supposed to be a modern retelling of Mansfield Park. I never read it so I can't comment on how well the story re-tells Mansfield Park.

Funke lives in Nigeria with her family. Her mother is a white English woman and her father is Nigerian. She also has a younger brother. The first part of the book shows Funke in Nigeria with her family until her mother and brother are killed in a car accident. Funke is the only survivor. Her father is grieving and cannot even look at Funke. He eventually sends her to England to live with his wife's family. The first part of the book shows how Funke lived in Nigeria as a mixed race child. She loves her family and her life as a young child. My heart ached for her after the car accident and she was uprooted from all she knew and sent away to live with people who are essentially strangers.

The second part of the book was equally heartbreaking. We are introduced to Funke's aunt Margot and her two children, Dominic and Liv. Liv immediately takes to Funke and wants them to become best friends. Margot is resentful of Funke and refuses to call her by her first name (or nickname) and instead insists she is called Kate, which is her middle name. While there wasn't a lot of story during this period of time (the story skips from when Funke first goes to England and starts school to when she turns 18 so about an 8 year time jump), your heart breaks for Funke at every turn. She is treated horribly by her aunt and her grandparents do nothing to stop it. Margot keeps her niece from going to a private school even though it is later revealed that she should have been at the same school as Liv. Tragedy strikes again on Funke's 18th birthday when Dominic drives her and Liv home from a party and gets into a car accident. Dominic, also terrible to Funke, asks her to tell the police that she was driving. She does but was unknowingly drugged at the party and her aunt gets the police to get Funke to leave England in exchange for not being charged. Liv is hospitalized and in a coma while all of this is going on.

The third and fourth parts of the book reveal how Liv and Funke eventually find their way back to each other. Margot tells the family that Funke died when she returned to Nigeria after contracting malaria. However, Funke's father had written to Margot to ask for her inheritance and to help her since she was sick. Margot manufactured a letter from Funke's father saying that she died and showed it to the family. Liv blames herself and begins a self-destructive phase that lasts in her 20s. Meanwhile, Funke recovered from malaria and attends medical school.

Liv meets a Nigerian man when she is a teacher at a nursery school. The man is the father of one of her students. They fall in love and she goes to Nigeria to meet his family. While there, the reader finds that Liv's boyfriend is the brother of Funke's fiance, who is actually gay and only in a relationship with Funke to satisfy his mother. Funke had agreed to the arrangement. Liv and Funke reunite after several scenes teasing how close they came to seeing each other. Liv explains that she never came for Funke because she thought she was dead. She helps Funke get her rightful inheritance and also winds up screwing over her mother.

I was honestly annoyed by every character at some point. Margot was the worst. The grandparents were so passive and just let Margot walk all over them. Liv meant well but took advantage of Funke at every step, but then acted like she was the victim. Dominic was also terrible but he wasn't as fleshed out of a character. Funke even annoyed me with how naive she was. She kept thinking her English family was going to help her even though they were all pretty terrible to her, especially her aunt.

The one thing that bothered me about this book was the reunion between Liv and Funke. There was so much buildup and you could see all the missed interactions. But then it seemed like it was glossed over and rushed. I wanted to read more about what they said to each other, how they really felt, what it meant to them to see each other again after over 10 years. Instead it felt hurried, like the author was running out of pages and wanted to quickly end the novel.

Overall, I liked the book but I could have used a bit more when it came to the reunion. I would give this 3 1/2 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins (through Book Club Girl) for the advanced reader copy.

⭐️ 4.25

I thoroughly enjoyed This Motherless Land! I was invested in the story from the very beginning and it kept my attention until the very end.

Liv and Funke could not be more different, and seeing their relationship evolve — as cousins from two completely different cultures — was emotional, heartbreaking, and beautiful.

The complicated familial aspect of the book was also very interesting, especially when it explored the relationship between racism and greed and how closely they are tied.

Wahala is on my TBR and now I'm really excited to read it after how much I enjoyed This Motherless Land, and I can't wait to read more of Nikki May's work in the future!

Another amazing read from Nikki May! I knew after Wahala that I was going to read everything I could. She has a way of drawing you in and dragging you along on an emotional roller coaster. Countless moments make you want to laugh, cry, and/or smack someone (namely Liv Margot and Dominic).

I understand the goal was to give Liv a bit of redemption, May wrote her so well that I just couldn’t see and feel it. My feelings for her never changed. While I’m glad that she managed to forge a new path and found love that she has craved. However even then, she was willing to do things that could or would harm Funke. It started with the disheartening remarks from Margot to the refusal to use Funke’s name that sealed the deal.

I did however love that Funke was able to reconnect with her mother not just with her memories, but those of the literal and metaphorical villagers. She got to see her mom through the lens of those she helped, taught, or simply treated well.

I truly enjoyed this story and wish that we could’ve gotten more of the future post-marriage. However, I’m overly excited with high expectations for whatever comes next.

This book is being voluntarily reviewed after receiving a free copy courtesy of NetGalley, the Publisher, and Nikki May.

Young Funke is a Nigerian child living with her Nigerian dad, her Caucasian British mother and her younger brother. Life has been good to them. Her father is a physician. Her mom has assimilated into her new country and is respected and loved by her neighbors. Then a life altering tragedy occurs and Funke is sent to England to live with her mom’s family who are strangers to her as they completely rejected her mother when she dared to marry a Nigerian man.

In England, Funke is completely lost. She is called “ Catherine ,” which is her middle name as her white famikly attempts obliterate the African past of this child of mixed race. Liv, Funke’s cousin of similar age, has no boundaries in what she will do to befriend her hurting cousin. It is difficult at first as Funke mourns her loss and finds Britain to be oh so strange. But as time goes by the two girls forge a deep friendship, Funke begins to think of herself as British. And just as she is ready to studyi medicine another unforeseen calamity strikes and Funke is sent back to Nigeria where nothing in her life is the same as it was when she was a child. Her adjustment to this new life seems insurmountable.

Nikki May masterfully describes Nigeria, taking into account all the positive and negative aspects of this country.. Reading this novel sent me on a journey to a land I don’t expect to visit in my real life and it was fascinating. The author was able to juxtapose two vastly different cultures ( Nigerian and British) allowing me to rethink some preconceived notions about what exactly makes for a good life. Ms May gives a well balanced view of both societies with a look into stereotypes, racism and white privilege.

Family connections are deeply explored. Who is the nurturer? Who is the ally? Who can be trusted? What does motherless mean? So much to think about.

I enjoyed reading this well written and meaningful book . I wish the ending were given a little more time and attention and yet I did feel fulfilled as the story closed. Four and a half stars for I book that was worthwhile, engaging and felt important. I’ve round that up to five sparkling stars with thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Publication date is today, October 29,2025. You’ll want to read this one.

A wonderfully complicated about families that focuses on cousins Liv and Funke who could not be more different. After Funke’s mother dies she is sent to live with her family in England after never having been. This Motherless Land follows the characters throughout different stages of their lives and shows the readers the messy and complicated relationships families can have.

This Motherless Land by Nikki May is another amazing story.
The book has a growing pace, the characters are well developed and very relatable.
The writing is engaging and feels fresh while being so captivating.
The author does a great job of hooking and engaging the reader.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Mariner Books for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

I loved "Wahala" and I think I love this loose retelling of "Mansfield Park" even more. This is a heartbreaking yet powerful story that examines race and identity through multiple lenses and across two very different countries. I found Funke to be a particularly intriguing character and her journey to discover and embrace her identity adds both depth and beauty to a story full of difficult topics. I would definitely recommend picking this one up! Liv was also great and watching the evolution of both characters (both together and separately) was gratifying even if it wasn't always 'happy'.