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The Frightened
In this lyrical, fragmented novella, Lethokuhle Msimang uses autobiographical and poetic interventions to lead the reader through landscapes of loss and longing, travelling between France, China, Spain and South Africa, to explore the troubled terrain of leaving and finding home. At once exhilarating, heart-breaking and haunting,
The Frightened speaks to the complexity of relationships, the pain of love, the effects of trauma, the necessity and constant work of healing, and the unfulfillable wish to feel a true sense of belonging. It is the story of finding one’s voice amidst inherited violence, and the importance of art and creativity in that process.
The Frightened speaks to the complexity of relationships, the pain of love, the effects of trauma, the necessity and constant work of healing, and the unfulfillable wish to feel a true sense of belonging. It is the story of finding one’s voice amidst inherited violence, and the importance of art and creativity in that process.
142 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2023
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44 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 21, 2023
Poetry is a very difficult art: too universal and it loses its emotional resonance; too personal and it loses the connection with the reader and potentially feels self-indulgent. The Frightened is a dynamic set of writings - an amalgamation of prose poetry and visual imagery - that consist of a female narrator examining her relationships with men and with herself. In many ways, The Frightened had a lot of potential to create an evocative story about loss and longing as this format has worked incredibly well when used by other writers to explore contemporary issues, like in Claudia Rankine's exquisite Citizen: An American Lyric. The Frightened, however, just doesn't hit the same notes. The narrators' musings, while often beautiful and engaging, at times feel melodramatic and self-indulgent, which detracts from the book. Having said that, Lethokuhle Msimang is clearly an enormous talent and, as a debut, this was a satisfying read. I'm looking forward to seeing how Msimang develops as a writer with age and experience.
June 25, 2025
I don’t know, somewhere between 2.5 and 3 stars.
I’m not really a poetry person so this didn’t speak to me, but if you are you might appreciate this more.
The first half of the book where she is basically hooking up with every man in Europe had my eyes ROLLING because GIRL. what were you doing.
Then I remembered that I too was a young woman who hooked up with questionable European men and maybe I shouldn’t judge so hard. We’re all dumb when we’re young.
That being said the heavy poetry mixed with random crass sexual details was a jarring juxtaposition that took me out of the story every time. I preferred her style of writing when she spoke about her family, it felt more at home there to me. She did have some stellar writing and I would be interested in reading a full novel of hers to see if she can convey the same level of feeling when it’s combined with more linear storytelling.
I’m not really a poetry person so this didn’t speak to me, but if you are you might appreciate this more.
The first half of the book where she is basically hooking up with every man in Europe had my eyes ROLLING because GIRL. what were you doing.
Then I remembered that I too was a young woman who hooked up with questionable European men and maybe I shouldn’t judge so hard. We’re all dumb when we’re young.
That being said the heavy poetry mixed with random crass sexual details was a jarring juxtaposition that took me out of the story every time. I preferred her style of writing when she spoke about her family, it felt more at home there to me. She did have some stellar writing and I would be interested in reading a full novel of hers to see if she can convey the same level of feeling when it’s combined with more linear storytelling.
November 23, 2023
“You don't like the photographer, but you will stay with him. And this will be the shape of how you love. Wilfully, with all the might of your mind, numb to his touch on your body. There will be a rapture, a severing of cords, a disjuncture between your love and your passion. You'll tell yourself that no man has captured the light as he has, and though you wish he were younger, it is quite alright that he fucks you from behind.” — Lethokuhle Msimang, “The Frightened”
This is such a wonderfully disjointed story and ironically, though it is not a novel that draws a clear line from one end to the other, it flows really well. Yes, a disjointed, jarring novel that flows. It speaks to the character’s state of mind I think, that the book sort of dips in and out of coherence. She is challenging our ideas of continuity, how we perceive movement within ourselves and around us. It is an experiment I think Msimang manages to pull off well.
She has such a keen eye for the fact of being human. Her descriptions are spot-on and true.
The story of her and her lovers, how she is undone and made by them. Their love is a dance and she mostly takes her cue for how to exist from these men, and then abandons it when she finds that they have grown tired of discovering that what she did best was reflect to them their own vanity, their own hunger to be wanted.
“First came the men, then came the madness.
They occurred in that order. Made me a woman; made me an ark; made my burning body yield and craft,” she writes.
Perhaps she is not brave enough to explore who she is on her own, and so she relies on the curiosity of a much older man, and men who have had full and interesting lives. Her own life is rich and ripe for discovery: she is the child of a diplomat and well-traveled, yet she still feels as though she has nothing to offer. It’s a statement on how women navigate the self in a patriarchal world, and how what we love and lose breaks us, and if we are lucky — it builds us too.
The language is poetic and mature. A talented writer with a bright future ahead of her.
This is such a wonderfully disjointed story and ironically, though it is not a novel that draws a clear line from one end to the other, it flows really well. Yes, a disjointed, jarring novel that flows. It speaks to the character’s state of mind I think, that the book sort of dips in and out of coherence. She is challenging our ideas of continuity, how we perceive movement within ourselves and around us. It is an experiment I think Msimang manages to pull off well.
She has such a keen eye for the fact of being human. Her descriptions are spot-on and true.
The story of her and her lovers, how she is undone and made by them. Their love is a dance and she mostly takes her cue for how to exist from these men, and then abandons it when she finds that they have grown tired of discovering that what she did best was reflect to them their own vanity, their own hunger to be wanted.
“First came the men, then came the madness.
They occurred in that order. Made me a woman; made me an ark; made my burning body yield and craft,” she writes.
Perhaps she is not brave enough to explore who she is on her own, and so she relies on the curiosity of a much older man, and men who have had full and interesting lives. Her own life is rich and ripe for discovery: she is the child of a diplomat and well-traveled, yet she still feels as though she has nothing to offer. It’s a statement on how women navigate the self in a patriarchal world, and how what we love and lose breaks us, and if we are lucky — it builds us too.
The language is poetic and mature. A talented writer with a bright future ahead of her.
June 8, 2023
I read The Frightened while waiting in an airport. The time disappeared as I was pulled into Lethokuhle Msimang's world. The language is beautiful, the cover art is beautiful. Each word feels well chosen and painfully honest. I've not read anything quite like it. This short work has stayed with me long after I left the airport. It comes highly recommended.
"I don't mean to make a fool of myself
I'm just losing my mind and I don't
feel like doing it quietly."
"I don't mean to make a fool of myself
I'm just losing my mind and I don't
feel like doing it quietly."
November 15, 2025
Page 113: " I write incomplete but poetic prose."
This reflects my experience with this work.
I think that I didn't get the point of many paragraphs.
Yet it was strangely compelling.
I didn't connect to the narrator, but the prose was beautiful and evoked a strange longing in me.
I generally don't like crude words. There were a few of them.
I will definitely read her next work.
This reflects my experience with this work.
I think that I didn't get the point of many paragraphs.
Yet it was strangely compelling.
I didn't connect to the narrator, but the prose was beautiful and evoked a strange longing in me.
I generally don't like crude words. There were a few of them.
I will definitely read her next work.
July 30, 2023
Comes across as somewhere between The Bell Jar and Weird Fucks, with a touch of Ingrid Jonker. I loved it.
October 24, 2023
Incredible.
June 28, 2024
Beautiful. Loved this book.
August 30, 2024
Devoured it in a few hours. Poetry-prose. This is an exciting new writer, and I am looking forward to seeing what she does next.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews