Someone Birthed Them Broken

by Ama Asantewa Diaka

“Delightfully assertive, subversive and vibrant… an original voice.” - Imbolo Mbue, author of the New York Times bestseller and PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction winner Behold the Dreamers

“A compelling delight”—Booklist

A visceral and candid portrait of today’s Ghanaian youth, told in interconnected short stories by acclaimed spoken-word artist and author of the poetry collection Woman, Eat Me Whole. In this startling collection of short fiction, Ama Asantewa Diaka creates a vibrant portrait of young Ghanaians’ today, captured in the experiences of characters whose lives bump against one other in friendship, passion, hope, and heartache.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, African Literature, Ghana

188 pages, Paperback

Published March 21, 2024

About the author

Ama Asantewa Diaka is a Ghanaian poet, storyteller, and spoken word artist who performs as Poetra Asantewa. She is the author of the chapbook, You Too Will Know Me, and the debut poetry collection, Woman, Eat Me Whole, and her poems and fiction have appeared in print and online. She recently completed an MFA at the Art Institute of Chicago. She lives in Ghana.

Reviews

[BookOfCinz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories that gets under your skin and stays there

This is a brilliant collection of short interconnected stories, one where each gets story gets better and better. We are taken to Ghana where each character is battling something that they bring to life on the pages. I loved everything about this collection. Every story felt unique but also familiar.

If you loved Ghostroots, you will love this one.

[Bobbieshiann · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The first reaction to pain is always disbelief. Not anger, not hurt, but disbelief. Disbelief that one plus could possibly equal zero. Disbelief that people can be unapologetically disappointing. And then slowly, it shape-shifts into anger. The kind of anger that festers like an open wound, needing just one more tough to transition into fatality”.

“Yes, you are appreciative of forgiveness but there’s something very terrifying about a woman whose rage is quiet. It makes no sense”.

“Unhappiness descended from a hierarchy of casual dissatisfaction to a kind of moroseness, slipping comfortably into a normalized task of my day to day, and finally to a state of nothingness. So the decision to leave my body wasn’t a hard one. I just needed time to be still. Even if for a while”.

“Men will try to break this body, but remember this body is a god. And gods are fiery, indulgent, self-seeking beings who men have never and will never have control over. So act like it, and only give permission to those who are deserving”.

“Friendship is hard when it has ended but you’re the only one who doesn’t know it, so you start thinking the person is trying to harm you with their absence when they’ve really moved on, and you’re the only one left standing wondering what’s happening, wondering if you’re doing too much or too little”.

[Benedicta Dzandu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of thirteen interconnected stories is a celebration of brokenness, a testament to the countless stories etched within a scar. From stories steeped in love, grief, disillusionment, faith, hope, and disappointment to stories centering on motherhood, parenting, identity, friendship, and political and social issues, Diaka captures the everyday struggles of being a Ghanaian living in Ghana.
 
The rich cast of characters is very youthful; there are those who are filled with boundless energy and then the naivete of those just starting out, yet burdened by the weight of adult expectations. We see characters grappling with heartbreak, infidelity, sexuality, and the ever-present shadow of economic hardship. Their journeys are messy and full of missteps and triumphs, a testament to the beautiful chaos of being young. Yet, amidst the darkness, there are glimmers of hope, humour, and resilience.

There is a fine balance between heavy and light themes. This is how a story about a lost love can be followed by a burst of laughter at a character's witty inner monologue. This balance between humour and sensitivity is what makes the book so real.

I loved Diaka's sense of place and how she is able to transport you right from the streets of Accra and into its bustling marketplace. The stories aren't just set in Ghana; they breathe Ghana. She also creates a strong sense of authenticity through her characters, which allows you, the reader, to connect with each character's emotional state. She beautifully captures their inner turmoil with vivid imagery and metaphors. You'll find yourself pondering alongside them, their thoughts echoing in your mind long after you finish reading.

One of the stories that resonated with me was Deanna's email to Yaa Amoafoa. It powerfully displays the emotional rawness of a woman juggling motherhood, grief, lost friendship, and the demands of daily life. It's not a carefully crafted story, but a stream of consciousness that lays bare her struggles and vulnerabilities.

There is a story for everyone. For me, reading this book felt like a warm embrace under the Ghanaian sun because I felt seen and heard. It's served as a reminder that even in brokenness we find the most beautiful versions of ourselves. 

( i really wish's there was a table of content but all the same it was a good read)

4.25⭐️

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars,

I really liked the writing style of this book and found all the characters to be unique but yet relatable in some way. I had a tough time following the subtle interconnectedness of the characters so I mostly treated it like several separate short stories which means they didn't have a fullness/completion to them. Overall it was enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollinsPublishers for the advance reader copy. This is my honest review.

[Kobina Ankomah Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily the most accessible, beautifully written, searingly topical, well-thought out short story collection I've read from Ghana, maybe ever.

Fiction (and fact) that's perfect for welcoming Ghanaian students raised to hate reading back into the fold. They will see themselves here, in all the ways that matter.

This is for us, by us and about us. And wonderfully so.

[Books Amongst Friends · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily 4.5 stars.

[Tosin (booksxnaps) · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars)

[Frida · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Nasiba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ama Asantewa Diaka is the next big export after Cocoa and Ama Asantewa Diaka

[Ewuramba Sackey-Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories about us, written for us by one of us.

Someone Birthed Them Broken is a captivating collection of 14 interconnected stories by Ama Asantewa Diaka that delves into the complexities of the human experience. Each story within the collection offers a unique glimpse into the lives of its characters, exploring themes of complex familial relationships, sustaining platonic and romantic relationships, corruption and economic hardships, and the lasting effects of trauma.

Poetra Asantewa’s storytelling prowess shines through in her ability to craft vivid narratives that are both emotionally resonant and thought-provoking. I didn’t know how much I needed to read a book that closely mirrors the everyday experience of the Ghanaian youth in contemporary times till I read this book. The stories were so damn relatable, and I’ve never felt more seen.

One of the most compelling aspects of the collection is Diaka's nuanced portrayal of her characters. With each story, she birthed a diverse cast of individuals grappling with personal struggles, societal pressures, and the legacy of corruption. The characters in "Someone Birthed Them Broken" are complex, multi-dimensional, and broken.

Another thing I liked was the illustrations after every story. It’s one of the things I looked forward to after each chapter.

To my fellow Ghanaians, this one’s for us. I can’t wait for everyone I know to experience this.

I’m most grateful to the author and Tampered Press for gifting me this copy.

PS. I have already placed a hold on the audiobook on Libby, given the lyrical nature of Poetra Asantewa’s writing. It’s safe to say I’m obsessed🤭

[Jeifa Tackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"if the mother and daughter loved you, they loved you wide - a bomb blast, a confetti at rich people's parties, five million copies of a beatseller, a flight of starships in a murmuration, all of Agbogbloshie's monthly sewage. The entire purity and filth of the earth was their loving you"

i have just read one of the most important books ever.

Absolutely loved 'Someone Birthed Them Broken'! It's a powerful collection of stories exploring trauma, friendship and romantic relationships, and Ghanaian identity. Each story in this collection is a gem and hits home in a beautiful way.

i was totally hooked on the amazing characters and relatable stories in this book. i adored the sentence structure—it's simply captivating.

A captivating opening sets the tone for a great book, and this one nails it.

The illustrations in this book were such a treat—I always looked forward to them.

If you caught my IG stories commentary, you'd know how I feel about this book. it's a must read!

Thanks to Tampered Press and Ama Asantewaa Diaka for gifting me this copy.

[Tutankhamun18 · Rating 3 out of 5]

//3.5stars//

I enjoyed these interconnected short stories focusing on a group of 20 somethings in Ghana and their families, relationships and inner feelings. However,it is a shame that it was not longer. My time with these characters felt cut short.

Additionally, I really enjoyed the creative format of these stories, sometimes an e-mail, sometimes shifting between the mother and daughter perspective, sometimes from the perspective of a recently dead girl.

„I am sorry it has taken me this long to reply to your email. These days, my life feels like a life-sized painting I have to finish at a hurried pace; not because I want to, but because I have missed all my deadlines. I am busy mostly; working, traveling, raising kids, not writing. Which annoys me. I want to write, or rather, I want to have written. But there isn't enough time to save some for writing, and when there is enough time, there isn't any inspiration. But in all, I am well, I guess.“

[Morayo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have appreciated this more if I focused on reading it quicker instead of taking a month and change to finish it. This is on me and not the book.
I may reread as it’s one of the bookclub picks in September.

[Iniye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone Birthed Them Broken. Poet, spoken word artist, musical artist, and storyteller Ama Asantewa Diaka—performs as Poetra Asantewa—delivers a remarkable collection of interconnected short stories featuring family, friends, acquaintances, lovers, and exes in the Ghanaian society all in their 20s and 30s. I first came across this book scrolling through Afreada’s website—where an excerpt was published—shortly after its release.

From the immersive first story—god or whatever—the author takes us to Accra in 1981 where Kusi Opoku Agyemang Snr., filled with resentment for his father because he died and left him with 8 younger siblings to take care of and a dying cocoa farm while having a 5½ year old daughter plus expecting another baby from his heavily pregnant girlfriend, narrates these ordeals and tells us why he should be enjoying his youth instead: “I’m only thirty-nine, I should be dating three girls from different neighborhoods and plotting 101 ways of not getting caught.” The rest of the stories follow a pattern of people—including Kusi’s son—all connected one way or another through brokenness, trauma, love and other complex forms of human emotions. I had an amazing time reading this and I have nothing but praise for this author.

“The first reaction to pain is always disbelief. Not anger, not hurt, but disbelief. Disbelief that one plus one could possibly equal zero. Disbelief that people can be unapologetically disappointing. And then, slowly, it shape-shifts into anger. The kind of anger that festers like an open wound, needing just one more touch to transition into fatality.”

[Ama Darkoa A-D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like Diaka's writing. I will read and buy whatever she writes.

Someone Birthed Them Broken is a brilliant collection of interconnected stories (about broken people.) I love the poignancy of Diaka's writing, the honesty and rawness of each story. As a young Ghanaian, the stories were too relatable and excellent- they are home stories.

It's easy to tell that Diaka is a prose writer. Some of the stories will stay with me for a long time and the characters I will not forget any time soon. My favorites were "the year i turned twenty- three", "fear means boys", "eating sorrow for breakfast", "re: how are you and i miss you", "politicians all demma mordas" and "silence".

So many quotables but here are some favorites:

"I have seen Mamaa mistake a slow-healing wound for a God who listens."

"You never forgave your mother for wanting perfection more than she wanted you."

"I wonder how long a body can sustain life before it starts to decay.

"My dreams are worn-out horses too tired to gallop. I used to be so full of ambition I wanted to save my country. Now I want to be saved from it. Nobody tells you failure is a kind of revolution too."

"Truth doesn't always have to be surrounded by an air of urgency."

"It annoyed me that the beauty I swore she possessed, the beauty she assumed she didn't possess, was illuminated through a man's gaze. It wasn't a love gaze, couldn't be, because I too loved her an ocean."

PS: does Ama Diaka ever miss with book dedications? Never. And please read this if you're a young Ghanaian or if you love short stories. You know what? just get a copy and read!

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think if there is one book I will remember reading in high school, it will most likely be this one.

Someone Birthed Them Broken is a beautifully written book that weaves together 14 stories of individuals who live in Ghana. It, very thoughtfully, explores the intricate relationships and connections between people; showing how the infliction of pain and hurt is often rooted in unresolved personal trauma, and how no one is absolutely or purely good/evil but is rather strongly influenced by the circumstances they come from. It is unapologetically authentic, sincere, and most importantly, human(?).

Some of the topics this book explores includes: beautiful female relationships that are full of love, broken (but healing) parental (& parent-child) relationships and general familial trauma, love that isn't restricted by gender, corruption and poverty, and a diverse array of romantic relationships that put voice to every sentiment that may have ever been felt by someone in a toxic OR healthy relationship.

If anything, I would recommend this book just because of how masterfully it has been written all the way to the end. It is so linguistically expressive and poetic, yet not confusing in the least bit. Also, I think this is perhaps the only book I've ever read and thought that the ending might even rank as one of my favorite parts of the book. Really so, so, beautiful.

[Adhima Ratnaningtyas · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Even in the middle of woman's sorrow, a man wants your existence to move around him.”

Diaka birthed this book perfectly! 13 stories that connects with each other through time and tides, exploring Ghanaian youth and cultures, making this anthology felt soo rich in feelings and emotions.

I can actually imagine myself living as one of these Ghanaian youths, that even though I’ve obviously never been to Ghana nor knowing anything about the culture, this book amazingly still felt so relatable at a lot of points. It was actually hard to both representing a certain culture into the book and also resonating with the readers whose never knew about the culture, but this book did it sooo perfectly!

This book covers a lot of topic such as generational trauma, poverty, women’s empowerment and insecurities, and a lot of womenhood/motherhood/girlhood with a rich cast of characters that stands out with their own stories to tell, this book is absolutely an amazing anthology to be your next read! 4 stars!🌠✨ My favorite stories were the girls friendship one and In Breakfast, We Eat Sorrows (i don’t really remember the exact title and character names, since i listened to the audiobook😭)

[Ayodeji · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this collection started off strong and I really enjoyed some of the stories, especially “stubborn anyway” “eating sorrow for breakfast”,and “fear means boy”. It was very difficult keeping up with the cast of characters and the interconnectedness and I didn’t think it added anything. I didn’t particularly care for any of the characters or was able to identify them in subsequent stories. The last few stories were comparatively weak for me, and I didn’t like the extended letter format of “re how are you and i miss you”.

I like Diaka’s writing style generally, and enjoyed her exploration of different themes of belonging, friendship and identity. Sometimes the use of contemporary african american sayings was jarring and misplaced. The most striking was I remember reading in “politicians all demma murders” “ Uh-uh. That’s double homicide, I’m not doing it” and questioning the use of those words in that context, and whether it was intended to be a call back to the viral clip about a woman commenting on an abortion of twins (given how the rest of the story was written) and thought it felt forced.

Overall 3.5 stars.

[M R · Rating 4 out of 5]

***3.6*** I'm not even sure if these read dates are correct, but please don't let the long time between start and finish infer I didn't enjoy this short story collection. First, the cover art is absolutely stunning and reminds me of a Dapper Lou photograph. Also, I love the illustrations throughout the book at the end of each story. Second, the loosely interconnected stories were so full of bite, realness, and wisdom. I enjoyed getting to know more about Ghana through this book, especially since so much of the literature I read from the continent is from Nigerian authors and viewpoints. Of course, since it took me a little while to read through this book (with travel and everything), and I'm writing this review a week after I finished the book, I have some favorites, but I might struggle to name them. I do clearly remember especially enjoying 'god or whatever', 'fear means boy', 'drip', 'hand me down', and 'silence'. Overall, I enjoyed all the whole book so they could all be here, but given my fuzzy memory... I'm excited to read more from this author, including her poetry.

[Blessing Ugwu-John · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5✨This collection follows a good number of Ghanaian youths, mostly in their twenties and thirties as they navigate life in Ghana while dealing complicated relationships with their parents, lovers and friends.

Overall, a decent collection. What I found most remarkable about the stories is that they exude a strong sense of place. The language, lifestyle, and food were all there. The social and political commentary was I spot on. I also like that it centers friendships with all sorts of dynamics and even touches on friendship breakups and how catastrophic it feels.

However, I wanted more depth from some of the stories, especially the ones that has to do with complicated parent-children relationships and it would have been great to see some more character development as well.

[Kayla Boss · Rating 4 out of 5]

cw: sexual assault, suicide, rape

thank you to @netgalley and @amistad for the review copy 🩷

this collection of interconnected short stories about the lives of Ghanaian youth explores the complexities of what it means to be a human being, our brokenness, the ways we hurt each other, the ways we get in our own way. how we navigate romantic, platonic, and familial relationships, through shame and neglect and trauma, through misogyny and body shame and low self-esteem

“there’s something about brokenness that makes you want to pass your fingers on cracked surfaces and trail them on their sharp edges, you know?”

[Phyllis | Mocha Drop · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel offers an introspective glimpse into young Ghanaian characters navigating life via friendships, romances, and the remnants of trauma. The stories are grounded in everyday/common circumstances which make them relatable and easily readable. The interconnectedness lends a sense of community – albeit, I might have missed some connections. A nice offering with a splash of “freshness;” I would read the author again.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollinsPublishers for the advance reader copy. This is my honest review.

[Amelia Van Berkel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was really interesting how the stories kept changing points of view. Even multiples times within one story. Also I don’t think I’ve read a book that included second person point of view before.

A couple times I was very confused about the timeline and how the characters knew each other but that resolved at the end. I think the diagram in the front of connections should be revised to connect all of them together.

[David Agyei-Yeboah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so rich in scope and specificity. I loved the interesting character dynamics, rich language you could swim in for eons and the sheer unadulterated pleasure of reading great work.

This one hits hard. Brilliant work!

[Norkor✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeously written and deeply relatable as a Ghanaian woman living in Ghana. My personal preference when reading in general is to ~ escape ~ my reality and this book kept me firmly grounded in it unfortunately.

[Seun · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely collection of interconnected short stories.

I really enjoyed the storytelling in this book. It's filled with so much heart. I also loved the illustrations.

The shared and unique brokeness of each of the characters was presented in such a lovely and delicate way.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 4.5⭐️

For starters, the cover is STUNNING.

This was quite good! I really enjoyed this! The writing was beautifully lyrical:) The illustrations after each chapter were also a nice touch!

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes overlapping short stories about young people and relationships in Ghana.

[Meredith Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, serious, and complex stories about people and relationships in Ghana!

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first line: "I have seen Mamaa mistake a slow-healing wound for a God who listens."