In South Africa and Nigeria, polygamy is a common practice[7][8] and the novel, written by an author familiar with this system of multiple wives,[9] deals with the cultural pressures on the infertile and impotent within a polygamous society,[10] as well as with the universal themes of rape, domestic abuse marital property rights, girls’ education, jealousy and power relations in a family.

[11] Because of its themes, the novel has been the basis of academic papers on stress management among co-wives,[8] polygamy[12] and female agency,[8] and has contributed to a feminist analysis of patriarchal structures.

[13] The life-changing events of rape and abortion, which she has largely kept secret, have led Bolanle to choose to become the fourth wife of Baba Segi, a man she sees as plump, prosperous, kindly and undemanding.

Receiving advice from male acquaintances in a bar, Baba Segi takes Bolanle to a hospital for tests, believing that she must be the one who has a fertility problem.

[14] The book has been published in translation in several languages including: Through the context and characters in her novel, Shoneyin deals with the many forces of oppression against women and girls that are present in a patriarchal society.

[13] The novel's discourse, the utterances and thoughts of the first three wives, provide justification for their adultery and their hostility towards the fourth wife, given the post-modern, Yoruba society and androcentric moral code within which they live, where womanhood is viewed as equating to motherhood.