What it means when a man falls from the sky

Title: What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky
Author: Lesley Nneka Arimah
Published: 2017
Language: English
Pages: 240
Rating: 5/5

A compilation of short stories that reminds me why I loved writing and reading. She writes so beautifully; it’s the kind of writing that makes you feel like she gave the words permission to be interpreted whichever way the reader choses. Those are my favourite kinds of writers, the ones who read like they aren’t selfish with their words, they write for everyone and no one at the same time.

My Review

There are twelve short stories in this Commonwealth-Short-Story-Prize-for-Africa winning anthology. I have definitely read each of them at least twice and enjoyed it more each time. The author gives a mix of a few sad and touching stories as well as some futuristic/fantasy tales. This, for me, is really what cements her as a creative genius. As each story takes its own form, she weaves believable characters into circumstances which require you to either suspend your disbelief or suspend your heartache. My most touching stories are ‘Windfalls’ and ‘Buchi’s Girls’. Both are very different portrayals of motherhood, especially the dynamic which exists between a mother and the daughter(s) she cannot sustain. The more I read the book, the more I realised that a lot of the stories incorporate in some form or another the complexities around the Mother-Daughter relationship. As the first born daughter to a mother who, as her mother before her, is raising a Good Woman, I found comfort in the vast representations of daughterhood. My favourite story is the first, ‘The Future Looks Good’. The way it’s written and the emotions it evokes weave the net that captures you for the rest of the book. Safe to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Favourite excerpts

These are some of my favourite quotes from the various short-stories. The ones that stuck with me and had me pondering over the words days after I’d read them.

“…Ezinma, pretty, yes, but in that manageable way that causes little offence”- The Future Looks Good.

“…Before she quiets in a country that rewards her brand of boldness, in her black of body, with an incredulous fascination that makes her put it away”- Light

“Girls with fire in their bellies will be forced to drink from a well of correction till the flames die out” – Redemption

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I will reread it often.