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valodniece's review
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This isn't a pair of novellas so much to be enjoyed as it is to be experienced, because besides the stories existing within the hopeful frame of women loving women, most of the rest is horrific, violent and terrible. The enforced silence and violence of everyday life, the brutality that can come out of nowhere, and so on. I'm not sure whether there's a positive hopefulness for the future to be gained from this, or if it is just negative despair that society will never change.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Colonisation, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexism, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Child abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Death, Murder, and Racism
myrtlewatts's review
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
filaughn's review
4.0
This book includes 2 separate works: the novella Don't Whisper Too Much and a novella/collection of interconnected short stories, Portrait of A Young Artiste From Bona Mbella. Both center on women who love women in Cameroon – Don’t Whisper Too Much is the first Francophone African novel depicting wlw in a positive light. (Frieda Ekotto was born in Cameroon & maintains close connections to the country, but grew up mainly in Europe and is now a professor in the USA.) Both have very interesting themes around silence and stories, but they’re actually quite different.
Don’t Whisper Too Much is a very unusual story and can be hard to follow at times. There were moments in this one that I really loved but overall, I wasn’t thrilled with it. I think this may be the kind of story that benefits from a deeper read with discussion with others reading it as well, or familiarity with a wider universe of structures and works that are out there – the author is a literature professor who has studied French lit in depth and I think it shows here.
Bona Mbella was the second half of the book and I really appreciated it much more. The short stories follow a much more familiar narrative structure and I found it very engaging. If you are reading this book and not loving Don’t Whisper Too Much, I’d suggest jumping ahead. These aren’t all happy stories (there’s some content warnings for both novellas) – but they are vivid and sometimes poetic. I thought the balance was right between following Chantou and her life and showcasing different characters and moments in her neighborhood, from other characters. I strongly recommend this novella – and it’s the reason the rating is so high on this review.
Ekotto has said that she strongly dislikes the way Western readers and markets often perceive fiction from African writers as a form of anthropology – interpreting novels as almost documentaries of what life is like. She’s been very explicit that the people and relationships in this book are truly fiction and shouldn’t be taken as a glimpse into The Real World Of Queer African Women – and I think her style and tone get that across quite well.
I think this book is well worth a read, but I think there’s probably a much wider group of people who will enjoy Bona Mbella than Don’t Whisper.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Murder, and Rape
Minor: Alcoholism
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