Nikki May travels to the locations in This Motherless Land
This Motherless Land
With locations as far afield as Lagos, London and Barcelona, very happy to have Nikki May on The BookTrail today talking about some very personal links to the locations in her book This Motherless Land.
Book locations in This Motherless Land
Locations which tells a story, which also tell her story as well as that of her characters. These are locations that have meaning and history for Nikki as well as the people she created on the pages.
Some interesting stories behind the story!
Nikki May
Book locations in This Motherless Land
This Motherless Land is fiction but I put my characters in homes I’ve lived in and featured places I love.
Starting off with Lagos in Nigeria
Book locations in This Motherless Land
Funke’s childhood home in LUTH (Lagos University Teaching Hospital) was mine. An idyllic childhood in this safe gated campus.
Tarkwa Bay
Billy was my sister’s parrot, he lived on our veranda at LUTH and ate cuttlefish bones we foraged at Tarkwa Bay, a wonderful beach you can only get to by boat. I went back to Tarkwa Bay last year and it’s just as wonderful as I remember.
Book locations in This Motherless Land
I love Tejuosho Market where Liv and Funke have a ‘sliding doors’ moment. It’s bustling, chaotic, noisy and wonderful, you can buy almost anything there. I can’t resist buying fabric when I’m there. Unfortunately, I’m really bad at sewing.
Book locations in This Motherless Land
The Ring is a beautiful, detached house with three woods and a circular pool in an undisclosed and intentionally vague place in South Somerset. They have no neighbours and it’s a half hour walk to the village (Broadwindsor). The nearest town is Crewkerne (the florist there makes an appearance) and that’s where the train station is.
London
Book locations in This Motherless Land
Liv’s flat on Underhill Road was where I lived with my husband before we moved out of London. We loved living there and spent many evenings at Barcelona Tapas (where Liv and Kunle go for the second date). And yes, the flat overlooked the graveyard, which Liv stares at so often, it’s beautiful, not spooky.
Book locations in This Motherless Land
The Horniman Museum is a key location – Kate and Liv go there in Part Two and Liv takes Kunle and Lola there in Part Four. The gardens there are wonderful and there is a brilliant African section in the museum, well worth a visit.
Book locations in This Motherless Land
Barcelona
The 1992 Olympics is a key event in my book – and that wonderful moment where the four Nigerian women came third in the 4×100 metres relay is etched in my memory. I visited Estadi Olympic years later with my mum and sister.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: This Motherless Land
Twitter: @NikkiOMay
