Harare Review of Books

224 pages.

Expected publication date: May 3, 2022.

Genre: Literary fiction anthology.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Grove Press for this eARC.

This collection will probably appeal a lot more to people with local knowledge, but it’s still an evocative, quick and pleasant enough read.

There are eight stories, many of which begin in media res and end without real resolution, so that each feels like a quick study, a snapshot of different lives. I found this rather less than satisfying—perhaps everyone’s quibble with the short story format—and it brought down my rating of the collection. I did like that the characters are ordinary people, people like me, that these are stories about working class lives. My favourite story was the one about the guy who walks into a bar with a sword.

CW for suicide, death.

Rated: 6/10