When a Stranger Called

by Vincent de Paul, Brian W. Mbanacho, Eunniah Mbabazi

An anthology of short stories by 13 Kenyan writers. The book covers different themes - murder, revenge, sex, marriage, workplace relationships, romantic relationships, drugs, etc - all summarised into one: HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS.

234 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2020

About the author

Born Samuel Vincent de Paul(שְׁמוּאֵל), Vincent de Paul, is a Kenyan freelance writer, author, blogger, and poet.

Vincent is the author of the bestselling collection of flash fiction stories series, Flashes of Vice. He has written sensational love poetry, and he blogs at:

1. http://www.poeticjustnes.com

2. http://www.flashesofvices.com

3. http://www.elovepoetry.wordpress.com.


Awards

Storymoja Africa 30+ Years Ago Competition, 2015 - Won

Storymoja Africa Competitions, 2014 - short listed

Chika Unigwe Best Short Short Story Competition, 2013 - Shortlisted

Nairobi International Book Fair (NIBF) Literary Awards, 2010 - Won

Reviews

[Mwongeli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggle with anthologies because I am aware that the rating of the story that I enjoyed the least tends to carry the day but my afternoon opened up so I decided to test this perception.

I gave each story an individual rating and then worked out the average of the ratings, which would be the final rating for the whole anthology. The result is 3.4 but Goodreads doesn't allow me to be that specific, so 3 it is!

Below is the rating of each book and the overall theme of the story from my point of view.

Wairimu - 3.2 (ED...mental health for men)
God laughs - 3.5 (Drugs & Murder)
Illusion - 3 (suicide ideation)
Lullabies - 3.5 (angel baby and healing)
Voices - 3.5 (LGBTQI, suicide ideation, multiple personality disorder)
When the Wind Blows - 3 (army guys and why LDR's don't work)
Two Lines - 3.5 (HIV, Abortion & Life)
Waiting on God - 3 (Nairobi justice and longing for lost ones)
Just a Day - 3.5 (getting caught)
Sally - 4 (revenge of a scorned woman and our very own Baba Segi)
Last Hookup - 3.8 (Health scares, HIV and anxiety)
Thorns I Live By - 4.2 (Endometriosis)
When a Stranger Called - 3 (sex-crazed and rapist priest)
The Wind That Brought Her Back - 3.3 (The one who never misses)

P.S. The grammatical errors broke my heart.

[Tracy Sereti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved and enjoyed most of the short stories in this book. They are diverse in how they present their stories and the type of stories that they write and that makes it NOT boring. Contemporary writers who employ different writing styles and they all cover issues affecting and happening in our society. Stories of our time, written by people of our time and during our time. What I loved the most is the relatability.

SPOILER ALERT!!

Charles Chanchori is such a serial killer yaani. He kills everything and everyone in the end. The innocent mosquito, the big German machines, the main character and everyone.

Ndugu Abisai and Tatu's were my other favorite reads based on the writing styles and the plots. Also, Ivy Aseka. Girl! that was some deeeeep stuff that you have either experienced on a personal level or hit very close to you. Vincent de Paul, you did two stories because you were born to do this.

Michelle Chepchumba, you are a gem. You know that, right?

[Vincent Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, 13 young Kenyan writers decided to write this book, including me, and I wouldn't have been any happier to collaborate with them. Growing up, I used to think that anthologies of short stories are by a rare breed of humans whose writing skills are considered exceptional by the intergalactic education councils to have their stories picked for instruction in schools.

Kumbe, they are just mortals like Charles Chanchori who meet for coffee organised by a Munira Hussein and decide to compile an anthology; they elect one of them like Eunniah Mbabazi to edit the anthology while the rest: Ndugu Abisai, Ivy Iseka, Tatu Reginald, Kimuyu, CJ Gicheru, Ken Okumu, Michelle, Mbanacho Brian, Hellen Mwololo, and Vincent de Paul - Kenyan Writer sit around twiddling thumbs waiting for the lead three to make a mistake and skin them.

Don't mind my rating (I might be brutally honest with myself in this because of a few things here and there), but you need to read this.

[Sheila D W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wairimu by CJ Gicheru 3.75
God Laughs by Charles Chanchori 4.5
Illusion by Eunniah Mbabazi 3.25
Lullabies by Michelle Chepchumba 3.5
Voices by Ivy Aseka 4
When a Stranger Called by Vincent de Paul 3.5
The Wind That Brought Her Back by Brian Mbanacho 3.75
When the Wind Blows by Vincent de Paul 3.75
Two Lines by Ken Okumu 4
Waiting on God by Munira Hussein 3.5
Just a Day by Ndugu Abisai 3.75
Sally by Tatu Reginaldah 4
Last Hookup by K Kimuyu 4.75
Thorns I Live By by Hellen Mwololo 3

Dark and thrilling! Always a pleasure to read Kenyan

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome how jotting down ideas can be turned into creativity. Depiction of events and descriptions really paint a picture in the author's POV. An amazing book this is.