Cover Image: The Newlyweds’ Window

The Newlyweds’ Window

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Member Reviews

These series of stories are extremely well written and leave you want to know what’s next.
In each story, you are left wondering what happened or imagining the next “scene”.
I would honestly love to see these turned into full chapter books or even series. There was so much detail you can picture everything as it’s being described.
100% recommend reading this.

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This is a beautiful collection of stories with rich characters and culture. I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of content of the short stories in the anthology but the variety kept me on my toes and enjoying every minute of reading. I loved to see the diverse representation of various African cultures in the stories and would love to continue to see spotlights on talented authors from across Africa!

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Interesting set of short stories! I would read more lengthy stories from some of these authors.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, in exchange for my honest opinion.

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The Newlyweds’ Window is an anthology of twelve contemporary African short stories. Contributors hail from various countries across the continent and represent a variety of genres. Many of the writers have never before been published while others have only published online and this is their first contribution to a book.

As is usually the case with anthologies, not every story will appeal to every reader. What makes short story collections delightful, though, is that if this story does not appeal to you, the next one might. If you don’t like horror, flip over to literary fiction. If fantasy is not your cup of tea, a page or two forward brings something completely different.

Being a fairly eclectic reader, I personally enjoyed all of the stories. Some of them will stick with me: a girl looking for information about the father she never met, a woman desperately crying for help in the midst of a violent storm, a woman enduring a difficult childbirth. Several of them are unsparing: reactions to LGBTQ individuals, toxic social media, absentee fathers. Many of them are disturbing. All of them are provocative.

These may be (mostly) new authors, but they are authors worth watching for. Africa and its diaspora are providing some of the most challenging and important voices writing today. The Newlyweds’ Window provides evidence that more of these writers are coming. We readers have a lot to look forward to from this vast and diverse continent.

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OVERALL

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

Interesting short stories in a variety of genres from Africa and the
African diaspora.

'Border Control" by Altine Jojo Elhassan

4

Terrific (and quite funny) story about an uninsured single
mother giving birth to twins. Very immediate. No
fluff or unnecessary words. We’re right
there with her right away: experiencing the pain, terror, dreary hospital decor;
and manhandling by abrasive, incompetent, and unsympathetic nurses.

"Gasping for Air" by Ogechukwu Emmanuel Samuel

3

A weird horror story about a strange and criminal being.
Best I say no more.

"The Newlywed's Window" by Husnah Mad-Hy

3.5

A lovely, yearning, understated, slow burn of a story about a lonely
woman in Stone Town, Zanzibar whose main
form of entertainment is not TV but watching the
world from her window. Unique story. I can’t
remember ever reading an entire stored framed
by a window.

"Mareba's Tavern" by Gladwell Pamba

3.5

Sweet, touching, and vivid story about an exuberant lady who enjoys owning a tavern; and her daughter, who wants to introduce her fiancée to her mother.

"Black Pawpaw" by Obinna Ezeodili

3

Twisty story about a young Nigerian woman
with an indebted father who has taken her
out of school and made her serve as maid
(and full time child care person) to a wealthy
woman who travels a lot and neglects her child.

"How are You" by Cynthia Nandi

3.5

I was moved by this story about a Nigerian woman
in her twenties genuinely worried about her aging
mother and her irresponsible younger siblings.
She also feels burdened by the responsibility
of keeping the household going. She keeps all
of these feelings to herself.

But the names and the snatches of dialogue
in a local language were a bit confusing.

"Rain" by Muuka Gwaba

3.5

Engaging, funny, and frightening story, told entirely through one
woman’s emails, about an endless rainstorm
centering only on her home apparently
created by her neighbor’s witchcraft.
The narrator has pissed off her neighbor,
who curses her in turn.

Well done. But I wish there were translations
of the African words, which may be in the
Bemba language (I’m not sure).


"Our Girl Bimpe" by Olakunle Ologunro

4

This made me cringe, but it was a good story.
A teenager gets herself into a lot of trouble
with a guy she meets on Facebook.

"The Daya Zimu" by Vanessa Nakayange

4

Fascinating horror story about traditional
myths. They’re not real? Are they?

"Old Photographs" by Hannah Onoguwe

4

Good story. More African magical realism/horror.
A young girl has never met her father and
desperately wants to know about him.
Her mother is not forthcoming with any
information. We find out why.

"This is For My Aunt Penzi, Who--" by Idza Luhumyo

3.5

Has Auntie Penzi returned?

"A Letter from Ireland" by Victor Ehikhamenor

3.5

The narrator’s Uncle Sunday writes from
Ireland. He is happy there, but his news is
unexpected.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This collection seemed in need of a copy
editor. Lots of spelling and grammatical
errors.

Also a glossary of African language words
would have been helpful for readers
outside of Africa.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY

Thanks to NetGalley and Mukana Press for providing an ARC (Advanced Review Copy)
of this book.

Although I got the ARC before publication, I am reviewing it after it was published.

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Loved the concept of this book going into it. A collection of stories written by different authors across Africa. i am a big supporter of making indie writers voices heard especially when it is from underrepresented communities. Many of these stories I found myself wanting them to be full length books. I’m used to short story collection books following one theme however all these stories were unique and followed their own path. For someone looking for a palate cleanser and to be introduced to a variety of authors debut work i suggest picking this one up.

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I'm very strange title but it all dealt with different women's issues and different parts of arch of Africa. Each story had a meaning behind it. Some dealt with birth some dealt with With teenagers who were experiencing the 1st time with Internet. Some dealt with them working in bars and how she was perceived not very well but she kept going on. Some dealt with having husbands dying and their wives turning to prostitution. It's very hard to live over there especially women because things are changing now. Then haven't ingested as well they just don't understand how these women want to be independent and they want to be this way or that way and they try really hard to go back traditional ways and it does not really work. I think that each store was well written by these people who are very well educated and they looked at the situations where they were in a traditional setting but also as a modern time.

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This is a collection of 12 short stories from up and coming African writers. The stories didn’t really share any common theme (we meet serial killers, feminist, supernatural spirits and beings, etc) and as with any collection there were both hits and misses. In my opinion the majority of the stories were top notch and even the ones that sort of missed the mark were okay just a little less engaging. I didn’t find a single story that I hated. I’d definitely pick up a book by each and every one of these writers.

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Thanks to NetGalley and Mukana Press. This was a short story collection and for someone that does not read many short stories, it was quite good. The perspective of other cultures and views on live was presented and the stories were interesting.

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Since this is a short story collection, I'm going to review each story individually. Before that, just a general review:

I think this anthology had some very strong short stories. It was definetely worth the read and would recommend it to anyone wanting a fast read that also deals with very heavy themes. There are a lot of trigger warnings though (I'll try to mention the ones I remember -forgot to keep track of them :/)

Gasping for air was honestly a great way to start off this anthology. Let me just give you the opening line and try to guess my face when I first read it: I open my fridge and the cornea and lenses are beautiful, the eyes that stare back at from different transparent containers. Reading from the POV of a murderer was really interesting and I'm glad it wasn't written in a way that "justified" the main character's actions. 5/5
TW: murder, assault towards women, stalking

Border control was probably the least strong story in this anthology. It was just... confusing. I'm not sure what was happening most of the time and the words used were weird. 1/5
TW: pregnancy, birth, veeery painful birth (probably?)

The Newlyweds' window which is also the title of the anthology, wasn't as strong as I had expected. I liked the themes it explored but I'm not sure if it was worth giving the story's name to the title. Of course, I shouldn't expect something with a wow factor from a story that explored the mundane life of a woman looking at some newlyweds' window but... I think it just wasn't for me. 2.5/5
TW: isolation

From Mareba's tavern and on, the collection becomes better and better. I'm not sure why I enjoyed this story this much. Maybe it was the "common people tavern" vibes it was giving. But it was also written and executed really well, with a satisfying beginning, middle and an end. 4/5

Black pawpaw was... wow. I don't know what else to say. This is a short story that, given the ending and the entire premise, could have been written as a whole book and I'd read 10 times a day. 6/5
TW: pedophilia, grooming, assault

When reading How are you?, my brain was a little confused. Not because I didn't understand the plot but because I don't know if I enjoyed this or not... I liked that it showed how the oldest sister basically morphs into a parent and cares for her family but I wasn't a fan of the language used by the sister to describe her siblings. I'm glad it showed the importance of a simple "How are you question?' towards the mother but other than that... 3/5

Rain was amazing. The email style used for this story was really fitting, diving basically into the mind of a toxic and manipulative person. Just reading the first part of the email you can get a good picture of what the MC is... It gave claustophobia and basically just be kind to people you pos. 5/5
TW: drowning, bullying

Our girl Bimpe. Nothing to say. Fantastic. 6/5
TW: rape, misogyny

The Daya Zimu was eerie, creepy and would have probably been more fitting to read during Halloween season. In this case as well I'd say that this story could have been a great first part on a whole book. 4.5/5

Old photographs was no really my thing, to be honest. I think it could have been executed and explained better. 2.5/5

This is for my aunt Penzi-who: am I crazy or this would have been better as a poem? I'm not sure it touched me as much as it should have. 2/5

A letter from Ireland, was a nice way to close off this anthology. I liked the traditional-modern border it showed though I'm kind of tired seeing this "fight". Still, decent. 3/5
TW: homophobia

To close this, my top 3 would probably be:
1)Our girl Bimpe
2) Black pawpaw
3) Rain

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Definitely recommend this book as the variety of stories gives something to everyone.

Almost all of the stories were interesting and had the same quality, which made a couple of the stories stand out because they were slower paced.


ARC kindly provided via NetGalley in exchange for a review

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Anthologies or short story collections are some of my favorite books to read. The Newlyweds' Window is a great one, featuring African authors. The stories are quite varied, both realistic and speculative. They provide a viewpoint that we don't often see. Very enjoyable.

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The Newlyweds' Window is a collection of stories written by African writers. What I will say is that each story was well written and I loved reading such different and distinctive voices. I think the flow of the collection was well thought out and each story stood on its own. But I will also say that as with many if not all collections there were a few stories that were more captivating than others and a few that truly stood out from the rest, in my opinion.

The ones that I enjoyed the most were: How are you? The Daya Zimu, Our Girl Bimpe, and Black Paypal.

But the whole collection was worth the read.

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Mukana Press considered over 500 short story entries and selected 12 to include in this 2022 anthology. They represent many African countries and tell compelling stories, some very dramatic and others slice-of-life. As might be expected, in their various formats they illuminate the intersection between traditional and modern viewpoints, social expectations and gender roles.

I enjoyed the variety of formats -- email messages, Facebook posts, various point-of-view narrators. And I especially enjoyed the title story - “The Newlyweds’ Window” by Husnah Mad-hy for its demonstration of questionable assumptions when a neighbor who finds no shame in watching the newlyweds comments that they are witnessing the “expectations of Swahili women- cooking, cleaning, raising, tending to her husband, attending weddings and funerals, and the likes."

Not all of the stories are typical dramas -- some are fantasy, crime-related, horror, science fiction, an impressive mix of genres. Some will appeal to particular readers, while other readers will find other stories more to their liking.

Mukana means “opportunity” in Shona; the twelve emerging authors -- whose bios are included -- are here given a great opportunity to reach a wide audience. I thank Mukana Press for the opportunity to read these works when I was given an advance copy through NetGalley.

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The story did not meet the expectation of the description. I couldn't make it through the first chapter. I'm not sure if he is human but thinks serial killers aren't human or if he is another species. It's extremely detailed but reads more sci-fi than anything.

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Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Like any anthology, particularly with stories by different writers, each story must be considered separately. As a whole, however, I enjoyed reading all of these, as they were a taste of the new writing from Africa, and led me to making a list of authors that I will be watching for in the future!

Some of my favorites are
Border Control - a pretty rough look at childbirth, through the eyes of the woman in labor.
The Newlyweds Window - about a young woman with a pretty dull life, who chooses to watch the life of Zanzibar as it shows through her window, with a focus on the couple across the street.
Mareba's Tavern - an independent woman who runs her life as she chooses.
Rain - a supernatural revenge on a woman who has hurt others in her unthinking ways, as shown through a series of emails to a friend who she has previously offended and antagonized.
Our Girl Bimpe - - ah, Facebook. What happens when a young woman decides to create a whole new identity on FB, posts there freely, and it all catches up with her.
A Letter from Ireland - how does a tradition grandma deal with the knowledge of her son's new life in Ireland?

A number of the other stories are what I would characterize as horror - not my favorite genre, but they are all interesting and well written.

This is definitely an anthology to dip into, for enjoyment and to broaden your reading horizons!

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This was an okay compilation. Some stories were much stronger reads than others. It took me weeks to read it because nothing grabbed me.

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One ot the best novel i have read so far.. The character interactions .. The world building is so good!!.. I wish i could get a second book.. But i really recommend reading this.. + Its interesting to learn about African culture

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Some pieces are stronger than others, but nevertheless collectively a wonderful glimpse into contemporary African writing and the writers who will be the shining stars in tomorrow's literary landscape! A real gift to lovers of African literature and delightfully varied. My only suggestion is a bit more editorial pruning in any future iterations of this collection.

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Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Newlyweds' Window: The 2022 Mukana Press Anthology of African Writing is a short story collection of Africa's emerging writers. According to the description, "Africa’s stories have largely been relegated to themes of poverty, and war; yet there is so much more brilliance, texture, and layers to our stories." Thanks to the publishers, the world will be introduced to the beauty and nuance of African writing.

Here is a lovely excerpt from "Gasping for Air," the first short story:

"I open my fridge and the cornea and lenses are beautiful, the eyes that
stare back at me from different transparent containers—different
colors, different shades, different sizes—glorify me, all ninety-eight
of them. I admire the colors—brown, black, gray, blue. The blues are
few, while beautiful brown eyes fill up everywhere. The transparent
containers are arranged neatly, one on top of the other. They belonged
to people whom the earth would rather not see, and I feel the earth’s
heart beating with glee and thanks every time I see them. They tell the
story of my contribution to God’s green earth. They are something,
these eyes."

Overall, The Newlyweds' Window: The 2022 Mukana Press Anthology of African Writing is a wonderful collection that should be sold and available everywhere. One highlight of this book is how it introduces readers outside Africa to a new generation of writers who write beyond the typical themes seen in books about Africa. After reading the description, I was so excited to read this collection. I did take off 2 stars, because none of the stories really appealed to me or interested me, which was disappointing. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of diverse books in general, you can check out this book, which is available now!

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