I thought this story was heartbreakingly beautiful. I loved the impact of this story and how when you're forced to leave your country it can taint a bit new experiences or a new country. There is noting like the love for your home country. The family dynamics in this is harsh sometimes. The messiness and how sometimes people only look out for themselves and want to cause harm.

This book spans through different decades and different moments of Funke and Liv's lives. So great.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This Motherless Land, the second novel by Nikki May, tells the story of two young cousins, Funke and Liv, who meet for the first time when tragedy strikes Funke and she is forced to move from Nigeria to England at the age of ten. The novel is told in three parts and in the perspectives of each girl.

I loved this novel, especially the character of Funke/Kate who shows such strength and resilience in the face of multiple adversities. The story is also very engaging with the writing putting the reader into the various settings. I also really enjoyed the author’s first novel, Wahala; she is now a must read author for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

This Motherless Land was such an interesting modern take on Mansfield Park. I imagine it as Nikki May thinking, "Mansfield Park, but what if the Bertrams are racist on top of being snobs? And Maria Bertram was the one to take Fanny under her wing, but she's still a bit selfish and makes dumb decisions that leave her a social pariah and we get to see what happens after? Oh, and when Fanny goes back home, she has to stay home?" Yes, the plot definitely diverges from Mansfield Park, but I could still trace its soul throughout this book. And considering Mansfield Park has always been my least favorite Jane Austen book, I thought this was a huge improvement!

That said, the book does take quite a, uh, dramatic turn around the halfway point. And when I say dramatic, I mean soap opera, Days of Our Lives dramatic. It was a lot. Although, it also kind of felt like Nikki May's tribute to the Ann Radcliffes of Jane Austen's day. So in a way, kind of appropriate! But it was just a lot. Still not sure how I feel about that aspect.

Overall a great read and inventive and creative twist on Mansfield Park that can also stand on its own.

It was a very dramatic read. I loved the relationship between Liv and Funke. I wish that more time was spend on their reconciliation. The ending felt rushed.

After reading and enjoying Wahala (2022), I was eager to read Nikki May’s second novel, This Motherless Land, and delighted to find it more captivating.

At the center of the story are Funke and Liv, the first a mixed-race Nigerian with a Nigerian father and British mother and the second Funke’s British cousin, the daughter of her mother’s estranged sister. In keeping with the two main characters, the setting is split between the two countries, and the point of view alternates between Funke and Liv as they mature from children to adults over a period of twenty years. May divides their story into four parts: Part One: 1978, Part Two: 1986, Part Three: 1992, and Part Four: 1998.

When readers first meet Funke Oyinkan, her parents, and younger brother Femi the affluent family lives on the campus of Lagos University Teaching Hospital. Mother Lizzie, an art teacher, fills Funke and Femi’s heads with stories of her early life on a magical British estate called The Ring but also reprimands them each time the bicker, cautioning them not to become like her estranged sister Margot. When tragedy strikes the happy Oyinkan family, Funke finds herself at The Ring where young Liv eagerly awaits her “African” cousin although Margot and son Dominic prove far less welcoming.

The author paints a vivid picture of culture shock as young Funke arrives in the British countryside, which bears little resemblance to her mother’s description. Throughout the novel, characters move between the two countries that both unite and divide them. When circumstances force Funke, now called Katherine or Kate, back to Nigeria at roughly 18, even her close relationship with Cousin Liv comes to an end.
Over the next few years, Funke and Liv must attempt to deal with what has happened, each convinced for differing reasons that she will never see the other again. But author Nikki May has another twist in store.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an advance reader egalley of this highly recommended second book from Nikki May. Readers will learn about Nigeria while devouring this attention-holding family story.

Fabulous book. I loved spending time with these characters. A couple of things kept it from being a 5 - the epilogue was short and rushed - maybe I felt cheated there because I didn't want it to end. I also had a hard time with the necklace being pearls (nit picky, I know). Surely vibrant Lizzie wouldn't have chosen them.

"This Motherless Land" is a work of contemporary fiction, centering on the perspectives of two cousins brought together and pulled apart in unpredictable situations, and serves as a (loose) retelling of the classic "Mansfield Park" by Jane Austen.

Young Funke has grown up in Nigeria with her brother Femi and two loving parents; to her, it was never strange that her mother, a Caucasian woman, and her father, a Nigerian man, looked nothing alike. However, when her family is tragically shattered at the age of 9, Funke is forced to move to the UK with her mother's side of the family, where she's introduced to her cousin Liv (Olivia) who eagerly awaits her arrival. Liv is, however, the only family member accepting her with open arms and Funke soon comes to see that the color of her skin sets her far apart from the rest of her family and the new society she's been forced to live in.

The novel skips ahead to when Funke (called "Elizabeth" by her new family) and Liv have grown older; Funke has become the model student with aspirations for medical school and gotten closer to her grandfather, to her aunt's chagrin, while Liv has taken on the opposite role, as a wayward young adult who frequently turns to alcohol and drugs. When Funke is unjustly accused of a crime, she's forced back to her homeland of Nigeria while Liv is told she left unwillingly. The two cousins continue on with their separate lives until a final reunion gives them a chance to correct the wrongs made against Funke and her family.

Overall, I enjoyed this story and appreciated some of the more difficult topics and themes it covered, such as complex family dynamics, racial identity, classism, and ongoing issues of racial discrimination and sexism. I enjoyed Funke as a protagonist, as many of her difficulties and emotions were easy to connect to and empathize with, as well as her character development over the pages. However, perhaps because this novel was my first introduction to Nikki May's writing, it took me some time to get used to the writing. The prose in first portion of this book when Funke and Liv are children is simplistic and, at times, boring - which is perhaps understandable given that it is written from the perspective of two young girls, but it didn't change much once the novel had skipped to their time as adults. I also struggled with Liv as a protagonist, as she came off as a spoiled and pampered individual whose actions were at the detriment of her own cousin. Also, while described as a retelling of "Mansfield Park", I'd say "inspired by" might be a better description as there are not that many parallels between novels.

Worth a read for those who are curious or are fans of May's writing, but not one of the novels I'd actively recommend for readers when "This Motherless Land" is published in October 2024.

A dramatic somewhat Cinderella-like tale, with a lot of misfortune and miscommunication. I had previously read Nikki May’s Wahala, and This Motherless Land shows a marked maturity of plot and character development, retaining the rich relationships while adding depth to characters’ motivations and choices for a much more satisfying read.

True to the spirit of Austen but with a decolonial twist. The female characters and the relationships between them shine in this novel. The true story is the deep love between Funke and her cousin Liv, complicated by misunderstandings and betrayals. The first part of the novel is pretty heavy, but the characters change and grow in rewarding ways. Having completely forgotten the plot of Mansfield Park, I went into this expecting romance, but it's more of a family drama.

This was so good!! I was hooked from the very first page. All of the characters were so real to me and I felt so much for Funke and what she was going through. She and her cousin were so loveable, even while the issues in their family were causing lots of difficulty. As the story progressed, I was so upset at the unfairness of things and I was rooting for the girls to figure it out. There were a few plot points that were a tiny bit too coincidental but I didn't mind at all. It added to the tension of the story and made me keep reading late into the night.
I definitely recommend this one!
Thank you to Netgalley and to Mariner Books.

This was a little difficult to get into because I just couldn't['t connect with the characters and it ultimately altered the flow of the storyline for me.

What makes a good vs bad mother? A mother who would do literally anything – the good, the bad, and the ugly or a mother who believes in independent carefree nurturing? This Motherless Land by Nikki May explores this and so much more as well as race, identity and love across two cultures and decades. I was delighted to see this was a retelling of Mansfield Pak by Jane Austen. Although loosely based on this novel, May puts a spin on a classic narrative by combining Nigerian culture with race, identity and motherhood in England. . I was hooked reading this book and finished it in 3 days!

With a plot that was easy to follow and plenty of ‘Wahala’ (pun intended!), May deep dives into light and dark themes of motherhood and what it means to be a family. At times, I found the story to be heartbreaking especially around grief and the struggle to belong. But May lightens the mood with light and funny scenes that kept me captivated by Funke and Liv’s story. If you’re looking for an exploration in motherhood, family and friendship between two cultures, I recommend This Motherless Land by Nikki May.

This Motherless Land by Nikki May is described as a "decolonial retelling of Mansfield Park". I am not familiar with that book, but I enjoyed the family saga, which spans over 2 decades between Nigeria and the UK. The story has a lot of depth and the character development was beautiful. Thank you, Netgalley and Mariner Books for giving me the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I recommend a review of the Yoruba words to make them more colloquial. There's also a part about twirling pasta (penne) around a fork that needs to be corrected.

Absolutely superb Jane Austen retelling from Wahala author Nikki May. 5 unqualified stars, make me a movie adaptation immediately, please!

This is based in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park which I'm not as familiar with. I enjoyed this book tho and the story that took place in two countries. It just reinforced the differences between the two main characters. Thank you to #Netgalley and #HarperCollins for an advance copy. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes stories about imperfect families and female friendships.

I love a family saga and this one was great--the contrast between a wealthy Nigerian family and a wealthy English family that chooses to bath in filthy water and not heat their home was a lot of fun. The only quibble I had was that the ending seemed abrupt after spending so much time with Funke and her cousin. I also found it said that Funke accepted so much abuse from the white side of her family even as an adult. I guess that's true to life but I would have hoped as an adult she would have realized how difficult they made her life even the "nicer" members like her grandparents. Her aunt Maggot was the worst! I don't understand how her own daughter stayed in contact with her although many people do seem to keep in touch with their abusers.

The story flowed well and the characters were well developed. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****