131: Nikki May (This Motherless Land)

Charlie and Nikki May (This Motherless Land) discuss her childhood in Lagos and moving to England, various ways Nikki's story changed over time (quite a lot!), the Nigerian women's relay team of 1992, and the upcoming TV adaptations of both This Motherless Land and Wahala.

Please note that there is some swearing in this episode.

General references:
About the Nigerian Women's Relay team win at the 1992 Olympics
Rocks (2019)
Nikki made the shortlist of the Nigerian Prize for Literature

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Enid Blyton: The Famous Five (series)
Jane Austen: Pride And Prejudice
Jane Austen: Emma
Jane Austen: Mansfield Park
Nikki May: Wahala
Nikki May: This Motherless Land

Release details: recorded 29th July 2025; published 27th October 2025

Where to find Nikki online: Website || Instagram

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:50 Being inspired by Jane Austen and Mansfield Park and introducing the way that the book is inspired by Nikki's own life
05:27 Expanding on how this book is inspired by Nikki's childhood in Lagos, Nigeria, and later move to England
08:52 About Nikki's brother, to whom This Motherless Land is dedicated
09:56 Talking about the Ikoyi club in Nigeria Nikki's family was a part of
11:03 The story changed so much during the writing! We discuss a few different areas - Liv, romance, JoJo
16:10 Somewhat like Funke, Nikki changed her name when she moved to England. We also discuss switching between Nigerian English and British English
20:33 Funke's father's grief
23:42 Brief discussion on how Jane Austen's sister couldn't attend her funeral
24:53 Easter eggs - carnation milk, and differences with food between the nations in this context
27:39 Could Liv have been believed about Kate?
29:27 The story beyond the pages and brief info about both This Mother Land's and Wahala's TV adaptations
33:40 Making each book different
35:30 What Nikki is writing at the moment; discussing ageism and the difference between men and women in that context
39:53 About Billy the parrot
41:06 Nikki's dogs and doing a combined dog and plot walk