379 pp. September 25, 2025 (UK), November 4, 2025 (US), Atlantic Books. Fiction.
What a compelling read! This novel made me more unsociable than usual for 24 hours.
A woman sees a man when he comes to her village and has to have him—so she does. Then her father belatedly protects her virtue by forcing him to marry her. Unfortunately, the man is married already, and his wife is not having this village wife business: she puts a blood curse on the woman and on all the daughters who’ll be descended from her. The question generations later is, does the curse still hold?
Braithwaite’s characters are vividly drawn, very bold women, sometimes stubborn in their wrong-headedness (is it the curse again, or just them?) but so understandable in their longing for love. This is a spectacular novel of women, of grandmothers, mothers and daughters striving to live and love and care for and protect one another, with sometimes disastrous consequences. And if they turn to the spiritual world sometimes (most of the novel’s dark humour comes through the seemingly unhinged mamalawo), it’s because they know about the curse and things in their lives are sufficiently spooky: what else does a mere human do with that?
If this all sounds like lightness and fun, it isn’t: There’s a dark thread running through the novel, as one character takes her own life. Braithwaite plumbs the depths of the character’s thoughts during her depressive episodes and the effects of her spiralling on the people around her. It feels very real, and requires care; please be warned if you struggle with your mental health.
I was impressed with Braithwaite’s writing in her debut novel, My Sister, the Serial Killer—she’s really good, and her work is original—but in the end I found the story just … good enough. Cursed Daughters, however, is glorious—a contender for my African novel of the year. Read it! You deserve a treat after the year you’ve had.
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Harare Review of Books 
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