Harare Review of Books

320 pages.

First published Feb. 13, 2024 (Grove Atlantic)

Fiction.

When I was a lot younger, I could disappear into books; or, alternatively, books could make the world disappear—the root of my love of literature. I had assumed I had lost that ability. Maybe literature has changed (or my tastes have; could it have been a genre thing?), or perhaps the world has changed. That old-fashioned feeling came all the way back while I was reading this collection.

Oliver is a stunningly assured writer. A lot of my marginalia is marvelling at how she is able to write from different points of view—mostly different women, and this is perhaps a (proto?)feminist collection, but also, very memorably, from the perspective of a young Black child viewing an old white woman and neighbour in When the Apples are Ripe. There’s a lot about Black life and the civil rights movement in here, from many perspectives: the small child burdened by the weight of integration in Neighbors; a young woman who disappears because her civil rights-minded father is challenging the system through her in The Closet on the Top Floor. The young adults who stage a sit-in at terrible personal cost (they’re still children, really!) in Before Twilight.

I found the incredibly chilling, spooky Mint Juleps Not Served Here, my favourite story of the collection, delicious, and savoured it for a while. Then there’s the experimental Frozen Voices, which has to be read to be believed; it has the rhythm of spoken-word poetry. The linked stories, Health Service and Traffic Jam pack a ferocious punch together (and are perfectly spaced out in the collection). Another favourite, Banago Kalt, where a young Black woman spends time in Switzerland, away from her civil rights organising, and has time to think about the concept of home. And, finally, the mixed couple of Spiders Cry Without Tears, from a very unexpected angle, that of the white wife.

There is so much that is thoughtful here, so much care. Oliver has a light touch with very heavy issues, but that doesn’t mean she spares the reader. This collection is about the struggles of Black people and the struggles of women, told from the most human perspective—not as sermonizing, but as story.

One of the best collections I have ever read. Oliver is certainly deserving of her place in the Black canon. Thank you to NetGalley and to Grove Atlantic!

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