Our Daughter Who Art in America is a great collection of short stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mukana Press for allowing me to read this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Each of the ten stories is exquisitely told and so vivid and honest, there's practically a heartbeat on the page. The first few stories are described as being lighter in theme, but I still found them quite searing. The collection works well as a whole. Each writer offers a colorful, complete tale that was a joy to read--especially in 2024 as African authors are still underrepresented.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this story. Each short story in this book pulls you in. I love that it made me cry, laugh, and each story was just as unique as the last. I've never had a book that draws me in and i will be buying a copy once it comes to my local Barns and Nobles. This is a book can pass down to each generation and once you're done, you cant help but feel empowered and inspired by the many wonderful African writers that shared their stories to the world. I loved it so much.

I enjoyed these short stories but a few of them were quite similar and I was disappointed there weren't more to read, given that the publishers had over 500 stories submitted. I liked the diaspora and returnees tales.

Our Daughter Who Art in America is a delish collection of short African stories. Each story was unique, and the language used was very beautiful. I totally recommend this.

read it as a net galley arc, and took my time reading it so i could enjoy every single short story for itself.
In total, it´s a very nice and well written selection, especially when it comes to discussing family relations, women issues and inequality. the book as a whole paces itself between loud feelings in quiet environments or a quiet loneliness in loud places, beautiful setting descriptions and some very interesting characters.
my personal favorites are: she lingers, market craze, little women and the book tittle, our daughter who art in america; they were funny, ironic, emotional, a nice reading.

This was an Own Voices set of short stories all written by African authors. I thought the quality of stories was wonderful, and I was immediately hooked at the first story. I wish there had been a few more stories - there were only 10, and over 500 were submitted. But what was here kept me reading and wanting to move on to the next story. Most of the stories were female-centric, and while I would not say they all had happy endings (even the ones in the first section that were described as the lighter stories), they were all enjoyable to read.

Thank you to Mukana Press and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Nice collection of stories. Nice variety and some solid talent. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the free copy for review!!

"Part one has easy to read stories with vibrant characters that will make you laugh and smile, and part two has stories that will ground you into some of the atrocities our world faces."

A compilation of short stories form African voices that is incredibly unique and full of lots of beautiful language. The stories were hit or miss for me, loved some and struggled with others, but I appreciate how this book pushed on me in new ways and opened my eyes to different experiences and writing styles.

A couple lines where the language just really stuck with me:

"At dinner, the food tasted like cloth because Kagonya's laughter stayed stuck in her throat."

"Have you ever struck a peacock in the throat with a spear from a goldsmith's furnace? That's how she sounded."

Thanks to Netgalley and Mukana Press for the eARC

In a Nutshell: An OwnVoices anthology from indie writers hailing from the African continent. Some amazing stories herein dealing with complex yet realistic human situations. I would have loved to see a greater number of and a greater range of stories.

Mukana Press was established two years ago "to discover Africa's most promising writers". I had read the first two short story anthologies by this publisher in 2022 and found both a delight to read. As such, I picked up this collection with high hopes. The stories matched my expectations in terms of quality, but not in terms of range or quantity.

The publisher stated that they received 564 submissions from 23 countries last year. This number is promoted on the blurb as well as in the foreword of this collection. Imagine my disappointment then to see that the book contains only ten stories, and of these, one was repeated from their earlier collection, ‘Send Her Back and Other Stories’ by Munashe Kaseke. With the talent that these writers possess, I would have loved to see double the number of stories in this anthology. Ten is too few!

I loved the foreword. This is exactly the kind of introduction I love to see in anthologies: one that offers a clear idea of the intent behind the collection, the editorial and selection process and the theme of the shortlisted tales.

The ten stories here explore a gamut of human emotions. However, almost all of the stories have women in key roles, making it a somewhat lopsided depiction. I suppose women exhibit a larger range of emotions without inhibitions, thereby making them the optimal gender for an emotion-oriented anthology. But I wish the diversity of the tales had extended to other genders and social themes as well.

There is an undeniable African tang to the writing. The culture, the beliefs, the gender bias, the social mores, the superstitions – all come intermingled with the picture of modern Africa with its cities and environmental-focussed initiatives and ambitious citizens. A couple of the stories have a delicious undertone of irreverence, but most of them are dramatic in flavour, and even when they have some light moments, they are more satirical than comic.

The endings of the stories are mostly satisfying, though not neat or happy. They do justice to their plots, and that’s what matters most in short fiction.

The stories have been divided into two sections. The foreword specifies that the first part (with seven stories) has easy-to-read, lighter stories, while the second part (with the remaining three stories) tackles more serious issues. However, the “lighter” tales aren't necessarily happy or relaxing stories. They also have weighty themes, and many of them deal with darker human experiences, though admittedly, not as dark as the final three tales. So “lighter” is a very relative word in this context.

The shortlisted authors hail from Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, with three authors’ country of origin left unspecified. I wish the author bios had included this data clearly; it is so important in a collection that stresses on the OwnVoices background of the author. Also, the included bio should have been placed immediately after the story rather than being pooled together at the end. This helps us in checking out the other works of the authors whose stories we enjoyed without having to flip back to the index to see which story was theirs.

As always, I rated the stories individually. Every single story crossed the three-star mark for me, meaning I hated none of them. These were my favourites from this book:
🌍 Little Woman - Favour Ahuchaogo: A beautiful story about a woman much larger than her physical size. Didn't expect it to go the way it did, but was a memorable journey nonetheless. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌍 The Ripening - Gloria Mwaniga Odary: A bittersweet story from a little girl's point of view, telling us how she lost her best friend due to the "ripening" of certain things. Loved how it takes a dark subject matter and gives it a lighter tough thanks to the choice of narrator. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌍 Market Craze - Delight Chinenye Ejiaka: A tragicomic story about the tussle between two priorities. Loved the ending; it’s a sharp comment on human behaviour. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌍 The Way We Bend – Milred Barya: A touching story about an African American woman who wants to embrace her roots in Africa but finds herself struggling. Very poignant! - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Overall, I enjoyed this collection, though not as much as I had hoped. It has a strong African flavour in its content as well as its voice: the benefit of reading OwnVoices writing.

Recommended to readers who would enjoy authentic OwnVoices short stories from Africa or stories about the human psyche as affected by social restrictions.

3.6 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each story.

My thanks to Mukana Press and NetGalley for the DRC of “Our Daughter, Who Art in America”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Reading this anthology felt like revisiting memories of Africa and reconnecting with what it means to be African. Each story stirred emotions of pride and admiration for the resilience of African women and girls. I felt a strong connection to the familiar faces and experiences depicted, evoking a sense of belonging. Overall, this book made me nostalgic and reminded me of the importance of storytelling in preserving our culture.

FUCK THESE SHORTS STORIES WERE SO GOOD! My heart! I loved every single one and every single second I spent reading this one.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Good books have the power to transport you to other dimension and feel the world the writer has built and welcomed you into, to feel her, live like her, understand her, and her world.

Our daughter, who art in America is a fabulous anthology collection by African writers, the stories being very women centric.

Not a great deal of people are lucky enough to travel and explore all places, and even if they do, it’s difficult to get familiarised with their culture in a short while. This book gives you a detailed sneak peek into the culture and the stark differences in thought process of African people with the rest of the world. For instance, the emphasis on women bearing children as soon as they get married and the preference given to bearing a male child. I thought this existed in very few backward areas in South Asia but turns out there ain’t much difference.

Speaking of which, one thing I realized while reading this story collection was that mothers are same everywhere. Their protective instincts, their reaction to their children’s migrating to different countries, to accepting their children’s broken relationships or accepting their identity(LGBTQ+), or blaming themselves for anything that goes wrong in their children’s lives, they are just the same.

This is a beautiful collection and I would recommend everyone to get their hands on it as soon as it hits the market.

Rating- 4.7/5

As with all short stories/anthologies, there are some you love and others you don't. But Our Daughter, Who Art in America was honestly such a treat to read start to finish. I had been craving African stories and this collection felt like a warm hug. After reading some of these stories I was tempted to pick up the phone and ring my family back home, to just be as close to them as I possibly can.
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for this eARC.

It is the familiarity that rings true for me as I was reading and even after I finished reading this anthology. A collection of stories, that stir up memories of Africa, of being African of how we tell stories and why we tell them- of how we describe and remember experiences and places. The loudness of our being, for example in Little Woman, of the sheer strength of a woman, of a girl who challenges and is deemed a threat by little boys because she plays football better than them- and of course her mother who affirms her standing up for herself. It's typical of my Mom who often told me that if I got into a fight and she was summoned I had better have made my opponent bleed.
I loved this collection because of this essence of being African- of seeing familiar faces, relating to the stories and this is a great place to start when it comes to stories.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

This was an amazing read. It was my first anthology and every story had me hooked. Amazing storytelling that made me feel so many emotions!

A really great concept! An anthology of short stories from underrepresented communities. Loved getting to dip into the stories, sadly, I didn’t fully click with the collection.
I’m so happy, I’ve now been introduced to Mukana Press and their mission to increase representation and diversity among published authors. Can’t wait to pick up Old Love Skin which is their anthology of poetry!

Our Daughter, Who Art in America is an anthology of African writing offering a glimpse into various lives through it's collection of stories.

From the first story I was hooked, the collection opens with 'Our Daughter, Who Art in America' by Chioma Iwunze Ibiam. This was a heartbreaking story of a mother-daughter relationship, more specifically the distance both emotional and physical, between them. Several other stories in the anthology also focused on family life and the disconnect between generations, each beautifully written. After reading this collection, I feel I learned a lot about people and how we treat each other and seek to be treated.

This was a powerful anthology, I look forward to seeking out more works from each of these authors.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-ARC.

This was my first anthology read and I really enjoyed it. I loved the voices and different perspectives. Definitely will be recommending this one.

This is a really appealing collection of stories from different African countries and the diaspora, written by a variety of authors. There's a strong presence of women in these stories, and many of the female MCs are relatable.

There are also universal emotions around themes that include motherhood, daughterhood, marriage, immigration, and career challenges. The specific details of some of the cultural contexts showcased, and the related challenges, are particularly interesting.

There are inevitably some stories which become favourites, and for me those included Little Woman and Tsoro.

Check out this anthology - you won't regret it!