Sally Bissell

141 Articles

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PREMIUM

Innards: Stories

Soweto-born Makhene uses her unique voice to characterize South Africa much as Ben Okri does for Nigeria or NoViolet Bulwayo for Zimbabwe. Her debut collection is necessarily difficult and disturbingly intense, as any stories of life under apartheid must be, but careful reading will unearth kernels of the inherent resilience and humor of her people.
PREMIUM

The Nigerwife

British poet and playwright Walters, once a Nigerwife herself, paints a vivid picture of the financial and social constraints that European women face assimilating into Nigerian familial structure. Already optioned for HBO, this cultural critique couched in a mystery is a sure winner.

And Then He Sang a Lullaby

This inaugural title in Roxane Gay’s new imprint with Grove Atlantic is a compelling, mature work of narrative grace.
PREMIUM

The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa

Buoro, a Booker Foundation Scholarship recipient, deftly blends low-brow humor with sophisticated religious and literary references, elevating this highly anticipated novel to a poignant lament for a country and its children.
PREMIUM

Daughter in Exile

Whether or not Lola’s experiences limn the author’s own, Adjapon’s (The Teller of Secrets) crackling dialogue and barbed humor feel close to the bone. Themes of classism, racism, and fierce feminism will appeal to book groups and readers of Mbolo Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers or Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche’s Americanah.

Ghost Season

Hopeful and despairing in equal measure, Abbas takes readers on an emotional roller coaster, employing her protagonists as metaphor for Sudan’s possibilities if it was not mired in poverty, hunger, and tribal rivalries. A propulsive read; highly recommended.

Read-Alikes for ‘Stella Maris’ by Cormac McCarthy | LibraryReads

PREMIUM

Call and Response: Stories

Moeng, a former Stegner Fellow at Stanford with an MFA from the University of Mississippi, writes with lush, heartfelt intensity that illuminates contemporary Botswana for readers who value complex female characters navigating a rapidly changing world.

The Light Pirate

Writing as if she too had lived alone in Florida’s mangrove swamps, fishing by night, sleeping through the heat of the day, Brooks-Dalton turns a devastating dystopian vision on its head in this redemptive tale by asking whether life is sustainable without human connection. This exquisite novel will appeal to a diverse group of readers, from fans of environmental writers Alan Weisman and Elizabeth Kolbert to admirers of Lydia Millet’s A Children’s Bible and Delia Owens’s hero Kya Clark.
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