A review by half_book_and_co
La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibea Obono

4.0

La Bastarda by Tifonia Melinda Obono is the first novel (though maybe rather a novella) by a female Equatorial Guinean author translated into English. This alone is a reason to pay attention, but even more important this is an unapologetic queer book. In slightly less than 90 pages Obono tells the story of Okomo, who lives with her grandparents after her mother had died years ago. Her father is useless, she is told repeatedly, but still, she wants to find him. But then there is also her uncle, whom she loves dearly, but who is shunned by society for not fulfilling their hetero-masculine norms, and the three "mysterious" girls her grandmother warns her about. This book is quite fast-paced and things often happen (a bit too) fast and straight-forward (falling in love, solving conflicts etc). But it also is a hopeful and fun read. Queer people, Obono makes clear, are everywhere (and not only one, but plenty) and have always been.

Spoiler

The book ends with queer people and other outcasts like a disabled sex worker creating their own community deep in the forest, away from the village - but also away from towns or even the possibility of leaving the country. Queer lives are given roots instead, showing them as part of some original landscape and part of a better, caring utopian future to come.