The Silence of the Wilting Skin

by Tlotlo Tsamaase

In an African city, a nameless young woman living in the wards slowly begins to lose her identity: her skin color is peeling off, people are becoming invisible, and the city plans to destroy the train where they bury their dead. After the narrator is given a warning by her grandmother’s dreamskin, things begin to fall apart. Struggling to hold onto a fluctuating reality, she prescribes herself insomnia in a desperate attempt to save her family.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Novella, Africa, LGBT, Queer, Science Fiction

74 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 16, 2020

Reviews

[Bogi Takács]

Wow. This was an amazing novella.

It's set in a segregated African city where the train tracks not only divide the districts from each other, but also host the train boarded by the recently dead. Except the white districts want to expand by force, and then what happens with the train - and people's souls? And how is this related to the protagonist's spooky nighttime experiences, or to her skin color flaking off?

This is a dreamlike story, or a nightmare-like one - I appreciate these kinds of narratives, and Tlotlo Tsamaase does so much with this approach. (I loved how wakefulness was juxtaposed with sleep; that tied into so much, politics, everything.) There is also a lot here about colonialism, forced assimilation to the colonizer, house and home being threatened, language and the loss of language - there is an absolutely breathtaking scene about not being able to say "I love you".

The book also discusses the conflict where queerness is considered "Western" or "white" and thus rejected, after many years of the very same Western and/or white people imposing their heterosexist values until they are internalized. (I am not Black, but something along these lines also happened in both of my cultures - though it's not the same thing; but it makes me want to scream.) I felt that this was strongly intervowen with the other themes and also both the speculative and non-speculative elements, and it all fit together really well for me.

I also loved the language - there are so many phrases in this story that are searingly intense. I was reminded of this poem of the author's: http://strangehorizons.com/poetry/i-w... ("A gun / Knowing the sounds of its lung / Exhaling a bullet" - keyboard mashing is due here because I can't even put words to my feelings.)

I would like more like this - please, publishing, make it happen. And to readers: please don't overlook this book just because it's from a smaller publisher.

A final note: my print copy spontaneously self-destructed when I was at around page 30 (really, I don't know what happened!) so I immediately ordered another one, because I had a deeply-seated need to finish.

_____
Source of the book: Bought with my own money (twice!)

[lauraღ · Rating 3 out of 5]

“If you don’t believe in yourself, someone’s belief will kill you.”

2.5 stars. Great ideas; weird execution. And not weird in the appealing way. This is a queer novella about racism (and internalised racism), segregation, cultural erasure, assimilation, and the evils of colonialism, with a particular focus on language and how it can be stifled. It takes place in a city where no one has a name; a city divided in two where a great train passes every month to collect the dead. So far so great; these are all themes that I love seeing in books; especially in sff. And the bare bone of the writing was sometimes really lovely; several lines read like so much poetry and I adored it. I've only dipped my toes into African fantasy, and this gave me a taste that has me wanting more.

But the plot? The structure? The way this was told? Oof. I really struggled with it! It was dense and unclear and confusing in a way it absolutely did not need to be. The world-building wasn't great; I really didn't like how the details of the world were communicated to the reader, in this meandering, roundabout way that sometimes repeated itself without ever making itself fully understood. Sometimes I felt like the author was going for a dreamy, stream-of-consciousness type thing? It didn't work out. The form overwhelmed the content; there was so much I flat out didn't understand. I honestly just wanted less abstract and more clarity from this novella. Even simple things could have helped, like better paragraph breaks and structure. The characters didn't help much; I liked them fine, and I loved the queerness (this is mostly f/f; there's a poly aspect that comes into play near the very end) and exploration of the peculiar type of oppression in this society. But they didn't compel me.

Honestly, my reading experience with this was pretty meh; I'm only rounding up on this 2.5 because the ideas were so creative and the themes were so much that I want to see in discussions in fantasy/sci-fi. When I think of this novella as a whole, it has so many things I liked! But it was kinda rough. I'm glad I can say I genuinely liked the writing, and will maybe try this author again.

“No smoke, no mirrors, no fire—but I am burning.”

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Concept-wise and on the sentence level with the writing I thought this book was doing some cool things. But overall as a narrative it left me confused. I also can't seem to get rid of my distaste for stories written in present tense? This is also one of those books that might just be too smart for me.

[Sacha Rosel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly impressive novella, dense with poetical language and political resonance. It tells the story of cultural appropriation and erasure, but also explores the possibilities of rebirth, at the crossroads between dreams and nightmares.

[Merit · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a young woman starts to lose her identity, she is visited by the dreamskin of her grandmother and her own whole world begins to tear apart. The Silence of the Wilting Skin is a dark, insidious, metaphysical tale of identity, love and the dead. The protagonist is never named - no one is named, her brother is called Brother, her girlfriend is called Girlfriend, cementing the loss of names, language and culture. A stinging, fantastical tale of the deceptive and corrupting nature of colonialism, and how the small indignities lead to great loss and suffering.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really strange speculative fiction about, I think, loss of identity and culture; of course, I could be wrong about that as it's so maddeningly opaque it could be a meditation on water fluoridation for all I know.

[Pedro · Rating 4 out of 5]

El silencio de la piel (que se) marchita.

"Mi novia nació en el tren, una semana después de que su madre muriera."

Así comienza esta novela distópica y surrealista, como un adelanto de lo que viene.

En un pueblo dividido en dos por una vía de un tren de la muerte, que nadie sabe de dónde viene ni adónde va, los que viven de este lado, el del sol, no saben lo que ocurre en “el Distrito del otro lado”, el de la luna.

Solamente saben que la sangre los desborda por dentro, y que deben hacer extracciones periódicas; y que de alguna manera esa sangre llega a este lado donde es esencial: sin ella, las personas dejarían de sentir.

Y ya sea por el sol (o la ausencia de la luna) o por la sangre, los de este lado van perdiendo su piel morena (y con ello, su identidad africana), que se cae, marchita, para dejarlos blancos; y si avanza ¿Quedarán eventualmente transparentes, translúcidos o invisibles?

¿Qué es lo que ocurre? Nadie tiene una explicación y hay dudas sobre la credibilidad de los que la tienen. Tal vez todo se está disolviendo. O en realidad todo es una ilusión, y nunca existieron.

Una novela que por momentos me generó dificultades de comprensión, pero que me deslumbró con su capacidad creativa y la creación de una atmósfera incierta y sofocante. Creo que podría generar en los eventuales lectores, una seducción fascinada, así como en otras un repudio indignado.

A mí me pareció muy buena.

[shiran]

i liked it, the writing style was definetly smth new for me but the message of it was still presented well- a story about losing yourself and your culture in the face of colonialism and western ideas being forced upon you.

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black SFFathon Prompt: Author Not From US or Canada
"I am tired of fighting this power around is, this power coming into our lungs, into our eyes, and taking control. I will just drink even if it is the blood of my people"

This was beautiful. I saw myself highlighting every other phrase because the prose was so poignant and stunning.
I picked up on themes of colonialism, oppression, and the erasure of culture that often comes with it. It explored them by pushing them to an extreme using the speculative nature of the work to highlight their effects.
Even though this was a relatively short story, it was still incredibly powerful and I am definitely going to look for some own voices reviews as I feel like there was a lot of meaning packed into a relatively small package.

[Donyae Coles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a beautiful book about the violence of colonialism in a strange world. The main character is losing herself in the tide of the coming people and is fighting to hold on to whatever scraps of her she can while she watches those around her assimilate.

The story is very surreal and dreamy and because of that it may seem like the narrative is hidden but it's not. It's very clear what is happening for the most part. The reason I gave it four stars instead of five is because there are points where the story feels sacrificed for the language and some things are lost but the over all message and tale is concrete.

A very good read.

[Terry Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very hauntingly beautiful poetic story that is like both a dream and a nightmare and is about a dystopian future haunted by ghosts and decaying technology. i loved this so very very much. i will comment more later

[briar ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 ★.

the silence of the wilting skin is what a salvador dali painting would be if it were a novella. i'm sure that's the preferred genre for some people, but i cannot tell yet if some people includes me. surrealist, dreamlike, and deeply unsettling, this sinks into your bones and stays with you a while after you read. concept-wise, this is occupying the slot of the most unique book i have ever read, and it's not tied with anything either.

the writing style itself is somewhat awkward, but it doesn't present a barrier to enjoyment once you get used to it (this happened quite quickly). my hesitation, surprisingly, is more towards the plot itself. it was all over the place, yet nowhere at all. i understand what the author was thematically conveying or trying to convey—the novella is a horror fantasy exploration of cultural and ethnic identity in the face of displacement and colonialism. to a lesser extent, it also delves into queerness (lesbianism) and queer expression in communities of color. i know that the main character's skin quite literally peels off and that she communicates with her dead ancestors, and that her neighborhood is experiencing a more violent form of gentrification. but the actual plot progression? i couldn't tell you with a gun held to my head. and maybe that's just me, because i am going to admit right now that surrealism is very much not my thing. but if it is your thing, i do recommend this wholeheartedly.

note: so i found out this genre is called speculative fiction, which is making me very scared because there's at least 200 speculative fic books on my tbr. here's to hoping i learn to like them.

[Marina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Titolo bellissimo (l'italiano più dell'inglese), trama interessante, risultato per me personalmente terribile, ho fatto una fatica colossale a terminarlo nonostante l'estrema brevità.

Una città è divisa in due, da una parte c'è un'etnia e dall'altra un'altra etnia (chiaramente i bianchi e i neri): a dividerla in due è la ferrovia dove passa quello che è il treno dei morti, dove vanno le persone una volta morte, ma solo per una delle due etnie. Chiaramente un libro sul colonialismo, sarebbe potuto essere molto interessante: sviluppare il tema del colonialismo e dell'oppressione dei bianchi sui neri attraverso un linguaggio "speculativo" (nel senso di speculative fiction). Tuttavia lo stile e la storia sono (per me) troppo surreali, troppo onirici, troppo poetici. Il che ovviamente può essere un pregio per qualcuno, ma per me è risultato solo un tentativo di essere poetico a tutti i costi, anche a scapito della comprensibilità del testo.

Per me proprio no, ma capisco che ad altri possa piacere.

[Lorrany]

Odeio ter que dizer isso, mas não entendi quase nada da história. Achei muito boa a ideia da autora de escrever um romance queer com personagens negras, focando na questão do racismo internalizado e na importância da língua para uma cultura, mas não foi o suficiente para me prender. A forma como a história foi desenvolvida, como se sonho e realidade se misturassem, me fez ter muita dificuldade para terminar. Lembrando, inglês não é minha primeira língua; portanto, se algum dia essa novela fosse traduzida para português, eu gostaria de relê-la para repensar minha avaliação. Mesmo não tendo gostado tanto, pretendo ficar de olho nas próximas publicações da autora, quem sabe os futuros lançamentos eu aproveite mais.

[Shannon (That's So Poe) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is like reading surreal dystopian poetry. It's impressive in the beauty of the words as well as the political and social commentary it has on colonialism. I was a bit lost throughout most of it since it reads a bit like a fever dream, but I still think it was incredible and well worth the read. I'm very interested in picking up more of Tsamaase's work!

Content Warnings:
body horror, illness, injury, death, death of a family member, colonialism, cultural imperialism

[Alice Lubian · Rating 2 out of 5]

La mia domanda è: quindi?
Non c’è un senso a questo libro, non si capisce dove vuole arrivare e neanche qual è il senso di tutto, o per lo meno io non l’ho capito.
La cosa peggiore è lo stile di scrittura che secondo me è troppo strano, dovrebbe sembrare una scrittura astratta ma a me risulta tutto incomprensibile. Metà della storia non si capisce per questo motivo.
La conclusione è che secondo me questo libro va letto sotto acidi se no non si comprende.

[Lia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a very surreal story that makes sense in a meta way rather than literally. It’s about the loss of culture, language, ethnic identity to (white) people who seek to expand and assimilate. I think the way this is represented is really interesting and creative. I was struck by a line where the protagonist is begging for help, but “my throat throws up my own language in italics forms into the air.” The way the (black) protagonist and her family and neighbors lose their homes and bodies is also a strong image and metaphor.

However, I wasn’t a fan of how the narrative feels like a meandering dream. Things happen, but it doesn’t feel like there’s a coherent plot. Characters exist, but they aren’t well defined and their dialogue is unnatural. Sometimes it works, often it doesn’t. The many strange elements of the world, like the dreamskins, or the love medicine, or the loss of names, are cool and interesting, but there are too many weird things, and they’re not developed as much as I would like. They’re also often explained by characters expositing to each other, which is just odd. I know this story has left realism far behind, but I still don’t like characters explaining familiar parts of their world to each other.

I thought I had a decent tolerance for surreal, Weird stories, but it’s not enough for this one.

[Avril Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is clear when reading this that the author is a poet. The writing is beautiful and very lyrical. At times it felt like reading prose poetry. The story itself was challenging. I thought the bones of the story were really good and was really taking a firm swipe at colonialism, language and death. I did feel that the story needed more time to find its footing. For me, some of the concepts of the world created just didn’t get enough exposition and were confusing sometimes. But overall, really fascinating and beautiful read.

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never have I ever read a book this fast.
It's breathtaking, it's confusing, it's madly funny.
The novel itself has nothing bad to it, great narration that reflects perfectly what the main character's experiencing.
Sometimes confusion can strike in, but in a matter of some pages you get your answer and time to think about it.
The themes are really important, they reflect our society and what we live in right now.
If you have a little slice of time please read this, because throughout the book you'll live an entire experience that'll leave you with lots of tears and emotions.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This surreal, hallucinatory, multi-layered novella fascinated and frustrated me. I don't think I necessarily followed the whole thing, but still appreciated the experience.

[bibo · Rating 1 out of 5]

nul, j’ai lu mieux sur wattpad

[Rina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! This is a fever dream for sure.

[The Grimm Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very creative story. . . with quite a peculiar narrative. 2.5/3 stars for originality.

[MatthewsJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Though this is a promising writer and a good idea for a novella, the story structure fails, metaphors aren't apt, the writing feels too overwrought. There's so much eye-rolling I rolled my eyes. It feels like juvenile fiction - the references to mythology were intriguing but the story's just so poorly written and constructed, it makes for a difficult read. It's supposed to be spec. fiction and surrealist, I suppose, but it just comes across as a gnarled mess of ideas that like cohesion. I found some pretty good reviews online which is why I checked it out, but I think people are just being generous to a first-time novelist. This book also needs a good editor; there were so many grammatical errors throughout it really gave me pause.

I would not recommend.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two sides of a city, one bathed by the moon, the other sun, and divided by a train of the dead only one side can see. At least that's roughly how this story begins before going... somewhere. Quite where I'm not sure. It's a story that drops the reader in the deepend and leaves them to swim all the while changing what is up and what is down, what is water and what is air.

I found reading it quite hard work, there's a dreamlike quality to the writing with the very reality of the story in constant flux leaving things feeling disjointed and impenetrable. It's like wading through treacle at times and although it's entirely possible this a work of genius it just didn't work for me.

[Eric Novello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Melhor jeito que consigo descrever a experiência de leitura: se o estilo da Carmen Maria Machado e do Thomas Ligotti fossem batidos no liquidificador e gerassem uma novela que reflete sobre relação com ancestralidade e formas de apagamento.

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

A surreal nightmare that draws a thought provoking critique of colonialism and the publishing industry. I'll write more on this later.

[Diletta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non è il corpo a svanire ma il colore e il significato. Una storia molto bella, si fatica un po', ma è tutta ripagata.

[Federico Gorziglia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libro breve, ma impegnativo. Stilisticamente, un gioiello di poesia.

[Ariel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Popsugar Reading Challenge 2024 - #47. A book with 24 letters in the title: 26

This surrealist novella reads like a fever dream.

There's a train that carries the dead and said train runs straight down the middle of a nameless city. On one side, the slums where our nameless narrator lives with her family (who also are not named), and the other side is the rich part where everyone who lives there is not Black. Nameless Narrator is visited by her dying grandmother's Dream-Skin (I don't know, don't ask) and is warned of...something? The language was intentionally vague and worked to confuse both the character and the reader. I'm going to guess the colonization attempt that took place shortly after. The non-Black side of town wants to demolish the train that they can't see. I don't remember why they can't see it, but I'm going to guess (I'm aware that I'm guessing a lot, but with intentionally vague language, what else can I do?) because it's not their culture. Nameless Narrator begins to start losing the melanin in her skin: a metaphor for losing her identity (and culture).

That's pretty much what I could glean. Like I said, fever dream. I do appreciate the train that carries the spirits of the dead because the family members get to see their deceased loved ones for a few minutes. I'd give almost anything to have the chance to see my parents again.