Bolu Babalola on “Honey & Spice,” Her Sizzling-Hot Debut
Wadzanai Mhute
Bolu Babalola’s Honey & SpiceOprah Daily
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When the reality show Love Island airs, Bolu Babalola live tweets observations and analysis, with her signature wit and humor. She has amassed a substantial following of over 130,000 on Twitter, where she expresses her love of rom-coms, Michael B. Jordan, and New Girl, not necessarily in that order. Following the enormous success of her 2020 collection of reimagined stories, Love in Color, we are now gifted with Babalola's smashing debut novel, Honey & Spice (William Morrow), also one of Oprah Daily's favorite books of the year.
She read rom-coms and worked on her own stories at a young age, a training camp of sorts, but there were detours along the way to becoming a full-time writer. Babalola is a second-generation Nigerian immigrant, and her parents, while supportive of her creativity, wanted their daughter to have a profession to fall back on, so she went to law school. After obtaining her degree at the University of Reading in England, Babalola then ventured into public relations, working as a production assistant and later an assistant producer at BBC Comedy. She continued to write on the side, submitting pieces to competitions and for publication. Her story “Netflix and Chill” was shortlisted for the 2016 Guardian and 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize for underrepresented voices. Because The Guardian only publishes the winner of the prize, Babalola was free to post her shortlisted story on Medium: It went viral. As a result, she was approached by both a literary agent and a TV agent who were interested in developing her ideas. Babalola eventually quit her job to focus solely on writing.
Babalola spoke with Oprah Daily books editor Wadzanai Mhute about romance, self-discovery, and the vital importance of friendships.
Love in Color was an inspired idea. How did you come up with it, and why these particular stories?
I was actually in the middle of prepping Honey & Spice for submission when my agent, Katie Packer, suggested I write a short fiction collection. The more I thought about the idea, it made sense to reimagine mythologies from around the world about voices that had been silenced. In embracing these tales, I paid homage to my passion for the rom-com genre and for love stories that center women of color, primarily Black women.
Honey & Spice is what a love story should be—two people who both challenge and enjoy each other and at the same time keep the readers engaged in their romance. Can you summarize Honey & Spice for us?
It’s a collegiate love story in which R&B radio show host Kiki Banjo dispenses romantic advice to the female populace of the African Caribbean Society (ACS, also called Blackwell in Honey & Spice) at Whitewell University. She is not really into romance but is an observer who cares about women and wants to warn them off useless men (wastemen) on campus. Then a "wasteman" arrives, causing chaos and drama with the girls. He turns out to be tall, dark, and handsome Malakai Korede, who is not happy about how Kiki portrays him, and they confront each other. In order to save their reputations at the university, they agree to a fake relationship. Through their partnership, Kiki learns to trust again, opening herself up to love not just with Malakai but with her community. Malakai also realizes that he is capable of giving love.
I definitely wanted messy characters; I didn't want the sweet girl next door. Kiki is loving, has a good heart, and messes up sometimes, which is more relatable than a perfect character. I also didn't want a flawless fantasy prince in Malakai.
Why did you choose a liberal arts university as the setting and ACS to be the center of this story?
I wanted to write a very saturatedly Black well. ACS is a biosphere; the Black students are in a bubble within the bubble, of a predominantly white institution. University provides the opportunity to hone in on love in a very acute way because everything is super heightened. The students are at the cusp of adulthood, navigating emotions in a sophomoric atmosphere. It’s a confusion that can exist at any stage of our lives, but universities are a great prism and concentration of that because students are trying to establish their identity, find love and a community.
Love is powerful in heightening emotions and allowing vulnerability. How much of it was instrumental in Kiki and Malakai’s self-discovery?
First, let's remove other people from the equation, because loving yourself for yourself is so great. You embrace the world fully, enjoy your own company, and have purpose. Allowing someone into your life is a blessing and an addition; they are not going to substantiate it. It involves working well together and bringing your full selves, alleviating the pressure on somebody else to be everything for you, making it a healthier relationship
For Black women, it’s important because so many identities and stereotypes are hoisted upon on us. We are considered hypersexual, sassy, and strong, and it takes a lot of work to figure out our own identity away from that. I don't think Kiki would have been able to enter a relationship without knowing herself first.
Malakai had some low self-esteem and needed to arrive at the realization that he could be a good person despite expecting failure. He's still young, not perfect, but his heart is ultimately in the right place. He also feels safe enough around Kiki to be totally himself and show the loving man that exists inside.
Why was it important to feature healthy female friendships, and what role do they play in your life?
I didn't want the romantic love story to take up precedence in Kiki’s life, because women have other concerns besides men. Her first heartbreak is with a high school best friend, which caused a lot of trauma. I wanted her to rebuild a community of friends at university. We also see Kiki through her friends’ eyes—they are not just cheerleaders but call her to account. I love a world that's fully rounded because you can't truly understand a person without seeing their community.
Honey & Spice is an homage to my friends. I wouldn't be able to do anything without them, because they instill so much confidence in me and have always believed in my abilities. They are a consistent, constant force of joy in my life, and I'm very grateful for it.
Can you recommend some recent romance books you love?
Music is a character in this story featuring a heavy rotation of ’90s R&B. How did you come to love this very specific era?
Every single day after school, I was either watching MTV Base, Moesha, Sister, Sister, or similar shows. I used to download music or watch YouTube, entering a wormhole of similar songs. If I was watching a Rafael Saadiq video, D’Angelo would follow, then Angie Stone, and so on; I just love that journey.
I don't know what happened with colorism, but back then, you saw dark-skinned Black girls being desired and being loved on. It was sexy and sensual, with some romance. Whereas now it's more about sex and sexuality; what is missing in today’s music is the connection, and as a romantic, it’s what I am drawn to. In Honey & Spice, I wanted to capture this warm sepia energy, the rhythm and sexuality, which is also lovely and tender. When I was writing a scene where Malakai and Kiki were walking through the park and she mentioned playing her Saturday playlist, which included Jill Scott, I was actually listening to Scott's “A Long Walk” at the time.
