What to read after ‘The Motherless Land,’ according to author Nikki May
Did you read, and love, “This Motherless Land,” Jenna’s November 2024 Read With Jenna pick?
Author Nikki May stopped by TODAY with Hoda & Jenna on Nov. 18 to share the inspiration behind her novel and picks for what to read next.
A retelling of Jane Austen’s “Mansfield Park,” “This Motherless Land” centers around thought-provoking questions of identity, culture, race and love.
‘This Motherless Land’ by Nikki May
The novel follows Funke, a young girl uprooted from her happy life in Nigeria after her mom and brother die in a tragic accident. She’s sent to live with her mother’s cold family in England. Her cousin Liv, who is fiercely independent and free, is the only thing not dreary about her new existence.
From there, the two women must each find a way to chart their own paths, despite their family’s dark and often cruel history.
Read on for books May says shares literary DNA with her novel — some more than others.
Books like ‘This Motherless Land’
‘Mansfield Park’ by Jane Austen
First up? The Jane Austen novel that served as the inspiration for “This Motherless Land.” May tells TODAY.com she is a “huge Jane Austen fan,” and was inspired to write “This Motherless Land” after re-reading “Mansfield Park.”
In the book, Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relatives at their grand estate, Mansfield Park.
“I think the idea of ripping a young girl out of one home and thrusting her into another and forcing her to prove herself over and over is genius,” May explains.
“This isn’t most people’s favorite Austen and I get it — pious, insipid Fanny is no Elizabeth Bennet. But I think it’s quietly subversive and incredibly clever,” she continues.
May says riffing on “Mansfield Park” allowed her to explore themes of identity and belonging that she has been “obsessed with” her entire career, thanks to her upbringing between the U.K. and Nigeria.
‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel takes place in the late 1960s during the secessionist state of Biafra’s attempt to establish an independent republic in southeastern Nigeria.
“This rightly won all the prizes and got all the acclaim. But what’s so brilliant, is that unlike many of the books we should read, this is one you will actually enjoy,” May says. “It’s a wonderful and very human story about loyalty, love, and heritage.”
‘We Were Liars’ by E. Lockhart
“We know something bad happened,” May says of this novel. “We just don’t know what.”
A wealthy family vacations every year during the summer on a private island. The mystery? Cadence Sinclair Eastman can’t remember what went wrong when she was 15. She slowly begins to fill in the gaps of her memory in this propulsive YA novel.
May says this book is “cunning and clever” and will have you “unpicking the past alongside the narrator.”
‘Commonwealth’ by Ann Patchett
“It starts with a kiss, and as ‘The Killers’ would say … how did it end up like this?” May jokes.
“Commonwealth” tells the complicated history of two families after a chance encounter (and kiss) unearths their intertwined pasts.
May sings author Ann Patchett’s praises, calling her “the master of show don’t tell.” Likening her talent to Austen’s, May says Patchett is “brilliant at observation.”
‘Good Dirt’ by Charmaine Wilkerson
May shouts out this book from fellow Read with Jenna author Charmaine Wilkerson. The story follows Ebby Freeman, a young girl from an affluent Black family, as she reckons with the tragedies of her past.
May calls the novel “a multi-generational epic that examines how the past informs our present.”
