My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC!

This is a lightning quick little short story collection, that still manages to make an impact on the reader! All these stories centre around Zambians both in Zambia and in the diaspora. There were also a surprising number of queer narratives which I wasn't expecting based on the blurb but which I love to see, obviously!

I will say that the first half of this collection is quite a bit stronger than the second. It starts off as a full five-star collection, but some of the shorter and later stories don't make quite the same impression. 

Most of the stories centre around women and the expectations placed on them inside the family home and at work. Young girls exploring a joyful sapphic love are met with the cold reality of parental expectations of finding a husband. A queer woman shoulders her parents career expectations. A woman is called back to Zambia to shoulder the responsibility of her ailing mother.

Then we have some diaspora stories which were heartbreaking. In Mastitis, a new mother struggles to breastfeed her newborn, while struggling to come to terms with the real reason her husband has moved into the spare room. In Hail Mary, a woman who's made her entire life in the US faces deportation to a country she barely knows. 

Skipping past the weaker ones, we get some gems towards the end too. In Speaking English, Kalimamukwento explores colonialism and anglo-centric attitudes which push out native languages. Similar themes are explored in the funny and frustrating #BaileyLies, where a journalist tries to challenge a white woman author who's written a (largely fictional) white saviour memoir about Africa.

I'd highly recommend this collection if you're looking for a fresh new short story collection!