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spaceagemermaid's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Drinking From Graveyard Wells by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu is an evocative collection of darkly magical and modern stories unearthed from Zimbabwean lore and pop culture. Some are visceral nightmare-inducing accounts of vengeful spirits, sinister magicks, and spiteful gods. Some are chilling observations on the banality and cruelty of human nature. In these stories, Ndlovu critiques the corrupt political systems, defeatism, and economic impotence that undermine post-colonial cultures. She lays bare the insidious roots of patriarchy bent on stripping women of their basic human rights and agency. She calls out the unfairness and hypocrisy of society’s insistence that certain freedoms, including sexuality, must be taboo for women but not for men, and derides the sheer arrogance of men who dare hold women in their contempt. Ndlovu weaves emblems of popular culture, people, and urban tales into a tapestry of unsettling yet enthralling sense of unreal-realness that epitomizes the best afro-surrealism and afrofantasy have to offer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Death, Body horror, Cultural appropriation, and Gore
Moderate: War, Violence, and Torture
Minor: Xenophobia and Alcoholism
Yvette Lisa Ndlovu creates a haunting kaleidoscope of modern life seasoned by the rich history and lore of Zimbabwe. These short stories slip between genres, painting an eloquent, chilling, and sometimes painful picture of the countless unsung African women who have and continue to transport our civilization on their backs through time.
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