Native Dance: An African Story

by Gervásio Kaiser

Settlers are ruling the islands. Makengo stands up for a native child a European bully beats up and also takes care of the poor kid while his mother was away and unaware of what happened. This help brings him trouble with colonial masters. Nonetheless, the price he pays is followed by a trophy, a woman he longed for but never thought would arrive so soon. All thanks to his stand against the invaders.

Genres: Africa, Fiction, Sao Tome and Principe

30 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 26, 2013

About the author

Gervásio Kaiser was born and raised in Sao Tome and Principe. A language teaching specialist from New York University, he has taught English at schools and colleges in Sao Tome, New York City, and Santo Domingo. He speaks English, Portuguese, and Spanish fluently, and has fair understanding of French and Forro. His stories tell the world about his homeland from the viewpoint of an African.

Reviews

[Pedro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un lindo cuento, que leí en Kindle, la única edición disponible. La historia transcurre en la isla (y pequeño país) Sao Tomé y Príncipe, ubicada en el Golfo de Guinea, frente a Gabón; la época es la del gobierno colonial, en el que los negros eran formalmente súbditos.

Es tan breve que me encontré por sorpresa con el final cuando aún no lo esperaba, y me quedé con sabor a poco. Por otra parte, encontré que coincide muy poco con los que se anuncia en el resumen: creo que es mejor omitirlo.

No es una obra excepcional, pero está bien escrita y tiene una linda historia. Sería interesante leer alguna otra obra del autor, aunque parece haber publicado solamente unos pocos cuentos en forma virtual.

[Calzean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very short tale of a local São Tomé and Príncipe man who helps a young boy, gets arrested by the Portuguese authorities on a trumped charge and then wins the prize of dancing with the mother of the boy. It is a simple tale and at first the poor English being used in the writing was a result of a translation but after a while it actually added some charm to the story.

[Michele Benson · Rating 2 out of 5]

São Tomé and Principe. Short story in very basic English. Young man stands up for justice against “invaders” and earns the girl of his dreams. São Tomé is off the coast of Africa near Gabon.

[Mette · Rating 2 out of 5]

São Tomé og Príncipe (Africa)

Could not find any other native authors from this country whose work is accessible to me.
I'm happy I didn't go with the longer short story collection. "It was ok" is really the best description for this short story. A very simple and sweet romantic story, with no meat to it whatsoever.

[Anetq · Rating 1 out of 5]

To me a rather incoherent short story.