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Book Review and Reflection: The Bread The Devil Knead by Lisa Allen-Agostini
Reading Time: 5 minutesPublished: 2021Genre: Domestic FictionCountry: TrinidadBuy the book here Introduction I’ve had this book on my TBR for a while and finally decided to pick it up during Read Caribbean Month, as encouraged by @bookofcynz on instagram. And… wow. I don’t even know where to begin. I can’t remember the last time I read a book that made me gasp “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God” chapter after chapter. This book is a page turner. I couldn’t put it down (well, untill the last few chapters where it all became too much). That said, trigger warning: this novel contains graphic depictions of domestic violence, sexual…
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Book Review and Reflection: The Parlour Wife by Foluso Agbaje
Reading Time: 3 minutesPublished: 2024Country: NigeriaGenre: Historical Fiction, Coming of AgeBuy the Book Introduction The Parlour Wife by Foluso Agbaje is a compelling portrayal of agency, power, culture, patriarchy, aspiration, and more. Set during the 1930s and 1940s, a time when women were historically dispossessed and reliant on male decision-making, it captures the layered struggles of the era. While the author notes that some parts of the novel are based on real events discovered through research, I found elements of the story difficult to connect with. Much of the narrative felt implausible for that specific time in Nigeria, especially for Nigerian women with a tone and style heavily influenced by…
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Book Review and Reflection of The Baby Is Mine by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Reading Time: 2 minutesPublished: 2021 Genre: Fiction Country: Nigeria Buy the book HERE Introduction The Baby Is Mine is a short story set in Lagos, Nigeria, during the COVID-19 lockdown. It follows an entanglement that Bambi, a young man thrown out by his girlfriend, happened upon, between his late uncle’s wife and his late uncle’s mistress, who were, strangely, isolating together in the same house. Book Summary Bambi was living well, being taken care of by his latest woman during the lockdown in Lagos. That was until she found incriminating evidence of cheating on his phone and kicked him out in the middle of the night. What was he to…
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Book Review and Reflection of This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga
Reading Time: 3 minutesPublished: 2018 (2020) Genre: Fiction Country: Zimbabwe Buy the book here Introduction This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga is the final instalment in the trilogy that began with Nervous Conditions and continued with The Book of Not. If you’ve read The Book of Not, or my review of it, you’ll know how heartbroken I felt for Tambudzai. I had hoped that things would finally go right for her in this last book. But This Mournable Body makes it clear: Tambu’s struggle is far from over. Book Summary When the novel opens, Tambu is still living in the youth hostel where we last saw her in The Book…
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Book Review and Reflection: The Book of Not by Tsitsi Dangarembga
Reading Time: 3 minutesPublished: 2006Genre: Fiction, Coming of AgeCountry: ZimbabweBuy the book here Introduction The Book of Not is the powerful sequel to Nervous Conditions. It follows Tambudzai’s (Tambu’s) story further as she grows from her Baba Mukuru’s home to moving on to high school. As Tambu moves from colonial Rhodesia through the liberation war (Chimurenga) and into independent Zimbabwe, her internal struggles take centre stage. Her attempts to rise, to fit in, to be seen, to be the best, all become a quiet but relentless internal war. Book Summary Tambu has been through the wringer. So much happens to her in this sequel. The book picks up right after…
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Book Review and Reflection of The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah
Reading Time: 4 minutesPublished: 2015 Country: Zimbabwe Genre: Fiction Buy the book Here. Introduction The Book of Memory is one of those books you finish and keep wondering if it’s a true story, not just fiction. So many nuances and crevices sound too real to be made up. That is a testament to the author’s brilliant prose. Book Summary Memory has been sentenced to death for killing a white man. As she languishes behind bars, her lawyer asks her to write down everything she can remember about what happened. She decides to write her life story, both for her lawyer, who is trying to reduce her sentence to life imprisonment…
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Book Review and Reflection of So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ
Reading Time: 4 minutesPublished: 1979 Genre: Semi-autobiographical Country: Senegal Click HERE to Buy Book “The flavour of life is love. The salt of life is also love.” – p. 64 Introduction An African proverb says, “Marriage is like a groundnut, you have to crack it to see what’s inside.” This saying reminds us that the true nature of a marriage only reveals itself through the everyday realities and challenges of life. Some of those challenges are expected and manageable; others arrive swiftly and violently, shaking you to the core and forcing you to question everything. The protagonist in this novel, Ramatoulaye Fall, experiences both and more. But it’s how she…
