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A review by bookabecca
Three Strong Women by Marie NDiaye
2.0
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. It's a collection of three novellas set in Senegal, and besides a recommendation from a friend who lived in Senegal for several years, the title grabbed me. But overall, this was a too much "in their heads" collection for me than a unity of moving narratives.
I really loved the third novella and really hated the second one, which was the only one told through a male character's perspective. He was just too much of a villain for me to relate to him. The first novella was ok but felt unfinished, and I felt lurched out of time and space in the end.
The third novella is a powerful immigration narrative (though painful and hard to digest because of its honesty).
Ndiaye has some beautiful writing on the sentence level, but I just was not drawn into her plots and characters the way I'd hoped to be.
I really loved the third novella and really hated the second one, which was the only one told through a male character's perspective. He was just too much of a villain for me to relate to him. The first novella was ok but felt unfinished, and I felt lurched out of time and space in the end.
The third novella is a powerful immigration narrative (though painful and hard to digest because of its honesty).
Ndiaye has some beautiful writing on the sentence level, but I just was not drawn into her plots and characters the way I'd hoped to be.