The Baby is Mine by Oyinkan Braithwaite
When his girlfriend throws him out during the pandemic, Bambi has to go to his Uncle’s house in lock-down Lagos. He arrives during a blackout and is surprised to find his Aunty Bidemi sitting in a candlelit room with another woman. They both claim to be the mother of the baby boy, fast asleep in his crib. At night Bambi is kept awake by the baby’s cries, and during the days he is disturbed by a cockerel that stalks the garden. There is sand in the rice. A blood stain appears on the wall. Someone scores tribal markings into the baby’s cheeks. Who is lying and who is telling the truth?
Goodreads • The Story Graph
Trigger & Content Warnings
- Sexism
- Child neglect
- Cheating
- Alcohol consumption, on-page
- Recreational drug use, on-page
- COVID-19 (theme)
- Emesis
- Physical illness & tribal marking disfigurement of a baby
- Blood depiction
- Grief & loss depiction
- Death of an uncle & husband recounted
- Animal slaughter, on-page