Historical fiction novelist Foluso Agbaje talks to us about her debut novel 'The Parlour Wife' set in 1940s colonial Lagos and the research she did on the impact World War II had on Nigerian people.
Foluso Agbaje has been writing stories since she first learned to write. She loves London, but calls Lagos home, and her stories are shaped by these two cities that have captured her heart. After graduating from the Faber Academy in 2022, Foluso completed her debut novel, The Parlour Wife. She has a Masters degree in Management and Human Resources from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from Loughborough University.
The Parlour Wife was published by One More Chapter on 12 September. You can also find copies on the Suffolk Libraries catalogue.
Some of my earliest memories are of my mother reading bedtime stories to my brother and me as children and this was the beginning of my love for books. When I was in primary school, my maternal grandmother would take me book shopping whenever I got good grades and this quickly became a treat I looked forward to at the end of each term. Some of my early favorites were Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers series and Jacqueline Wilson’s range of children’s books.
I’ve been writing informally since I was 7 years old. I would write and illustrate stories for my classmates to read and I wish I had kept the exercise books I wrote in! I have a good laugh when I read some of my teenage journals now and I imagine I would feel the same way about my earliest novels. My formal journey to publication began in 2020 when I started the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course. The course was the first time I had taken my writing seriously and it really taught me how to hone my skills. I also wrote most of The Parlour Wife during the Faber course and being able to receive objective reviews from my coursemates on the story as it developed was invaluable.
After completing the Faber course and my novel, I got my agent at the beginning of 2022 and my book deal later that year. Writing has always been a part of my life and publishing a novel was something I hoped would happen one day, so I’m immensely grateful that it’s happening for me now.
Despite this not being a popular topic in history, there is a lot of information on the impact of WWII on Nigerian people. The information I found was in many different places – my grandparents first hand accounts of their childhood, online journals, documentaries on Netflix and YouTube and books in the British Library to name a few. I’ve included a bibliography at the end of The Parlour Wife for anyone who is interested in learning more about the impact of WWII on Nigerian people.
The Parlour Wife is a novel about finding self fulfilment, and is set in 1940s colonial Lagos, during WWII, where Kehinde, my protagonist has to challenge societal norms to get the empowerment she needs to discover her purpose.
The idea of The Parlour Wife came to me during a conversation with my paternal grandmother in 2019 when I found out that she grew up in a polygamous home in the same time period. Given that Nigeria was part of the British Empire during the war, as we spoke that day, I wondered why I had heard and read so little about the lives of Nigerian women at that point in history. As Kehinde’s story started to form in my mind, I knew I had the beginning of something special.
Even though I wanted to write a book about that period in time, I didn’t want another book about world war two because there are already so many books, movies and documentaries about the war itself. I also didn’t want to inadvertently write a history text book! I wanted to present a perspective of how the war affected Nigerian lives, the same way global events affect our stories and decision making today in an entertaining way. Although my characters are completely fictional, my hope is that The Parlour Wife sheds light on a time in Nigeria’s history that has received limited international coverage.
Kehinde is a fictional character but I wanted to depict the journey that any young woman would have to undertake in becoming empowered, from the starting point of uncertainty to the end goal of self fulfilment. Kehinde is an amalgamation of the softest and strongest traits that I’ve seen in myself and the women I know, especially at moments in all our lives where we have had to make difficult choices in the quest to fulfil our goals.
I want readers to understand that a fulfilling life cannot be obtained without being empowered to make life changing decisions. Sometimes, gaining that empowerment can be uncomfortable, and remaining resilient in the face of whatever the world throws at you will not always be easy, but even the most seemingly insurmountable challenges can be overcome with willpower and the help of a strong community.
More novels! I’ve finished writing my second book which is contemporary fiction, set in Lagos post COVID. Now I’m working on my third book which is also set in Lagos between the early 2000’s and present day.
I think I would have loved being a travel and food blogger, but I feel like that answer might be cheating a bit as it still involves writing!
I love singing, and I feel most at peace when I’m singing hymns as part of a choir.
