Sirens: Tales of Youth and Love

by Leroy Mthulisi Ndlovu, Daniel Emanuel Rodrigues (Illustrator), Philani Amadeus Nyoni (Foreword)

Leroy Mthulisi Ndlovu’s short stories make one nostalgic for a youth lived on the streets of Bulawayo, a city presented in the collection in all its beauty and with all the tragi-comedy (more tragic than comic really) of a down-on-her-luck but still vivacious and sweet-natured you might not always like what she’s doing but you can’t help rooting for her. This short story collection is that lovable in the extreme, uniquely appealing and with just enough hints at horror to keep you reading and wishing you could stop. You will keep reading. Ndlovu’s characters are nothing like you’ve seen before. They are charismatic, distinctive, tragic, relatable and best of all, they are proudly, undeniably Bulawayo. A young barely-functioning alcoholic finds love in the midst of a haunting by his mother’s ghost and loses that love in the most heartbreaking way. A young boy discovers he’s been made into a cannibal without his knowledge or consent. There’s another young man who walks into the light - and back again. Do not make the mistake of thinking it’s a collection about young men with myriad problems - there are women too, and what women. The penny whores who aren’t quite what they seem. The lover who reads The Prophet and takes sexual liberation to new heights, with tragic consequences and of course the inimitable one known only as The Thoroughbred. Ndlovu writes with the lyrical skill of a master, seamlessly weaving isiNdebele into his tales so that it weaves through the collection reminding readers that is a collection conceived and written in the City of Kings and true to those kings, there is no mercy for the uninitiated. As the adage ngeshwa ke isiNdebele asitolikwa. Some of the stories are shocking, all of them are appealing. From layout to subject to language and tone, this is a collection the like of which has not yet been published, and writing like you’ve never a perfect read for all of Bulawayo and indeed all of the literary world. The stories capture every sense to detail the beauty and expose the horrors of the city’s underbelly along with its surrounds. If you know Bulawayo you’ll enjoy this collection and if you don’t, you’ll wish you did. "A wealth of Beauty, Tragedy and folly of youth told in neat and pristine prose" - Philani A Nyoni "For Ernest Hemingway, Paris was a moveable feast. His experiences there would stay with him for the rest of his life. For Leroy Mthulisi Ndlovu, Bulawayo is a moveable the shebeens, the suburbs, downtown, the surrounding bush… transformed by the author’s extraordinary imagination, an imagination which combines the virtual world of the internet with the supernatural world of ancestors, of children yet to be born, of winged dogs drinking prize bulls into nothingness. The variety in this collection is impressive. There is humour, there is horror, there is yearning… and always there is Bulawayo. Ndlovu is an original voice." - John Eppel

154 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 29, 2020

About the author

Leroy Mthulisi Ndlovu is a writer based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. He is formally employed as a systems administrator and spends his free time reading Stephen King and graphic novels, watching movies, and playing the FIFA video game. Leroy is also an amateur actor and he featured in the movie Golddiggers and the Short Film Jane The Ghost. He has been published in The Sunday News, Ilizwi263, Africanwriter.com, and Poetry Bulawayo.

Reviews

[Sind Saw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read book. Ever since I started reading it I can't put it down.

[Jeph Dewa · Rating 5 out of 5]

To say that this is an excellent piece of work would be an understatement. To those that love reading this book should be in your library. Good work Leroy.

[Munashe Dizwani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good read. I really enjoyed the stories. They have a way of tugging at your emotions and leaving you wanting more.

[Andile Dube · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is beauty which comes with the tragedy of love. The love which drives one to purchase a gun to use on themselves, the love which drives one to keep his family fed, yep! on human flesh. The variety is stunning, one moment you are sitting on a bar stool waiting for love from a long lost stranger, another you are in deep with Lovecraftian flying creatures feeding on cows. All that variety eventually converges to tell one story, the story of Bulawayo as seen from Leroy's brilliant mind. SIRENS is a must-read for everyone!!!!!!

[Nogate Maseko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leroy has surpassed himself in this gem collection. As I read I was sensually taken on a free tour of the City of Kings. Thanks to Lockdown I have missed my City. I feel. I smell. I taste. I hear the City of Kings through these stories. My deep love for Bulawayo is redefined.. And am reminded of Yvonne Vera. Except that, Leroy's Sirens are truly SIRENS only Leroy can 'sound'. A truly homestraight goodread.

[Tari Ndoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sirens: Tales of Youth and Love is an ode to the city of Bulawayo. Yet this ode is not a sycophant's painting but a true exploratuon of real characters and their very real struggles.

Ndlovu has a skill for writing the tragicomic and his wit is pleasantly (and consistently) surprising. Also surprising is his seamless weaving of stories grounded in realism with fables and futuristic tales. Bravo to Leroy for this satisfying debut!

[Tracy Hlengiwe · Rating 5 out of 5]

In world that Leroy creates with his pen, I find a sense of realism that is familiar to myself as well as a sense of the unknown. As a person who spent their formative adolesence years outside the City of Kings, it invokes a familiarity of the emotions one experiences at that age. A must read to recapture that sense of invincibility of that age.
P.S Mdluli is a Shadowhunter

[Yvonne Maphosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give a book more than five stars, it would be this one. Unreservedly and without favour. I was completely blown away, page after page.
You know there are writers! Then there are WRITERS!!! Leroy is the latter. A Wordsmith of note.
He neatly knitted his words together on each story and laid them out simply but artistically, it was hard not to nod in approval and awe as I read through.

His book, SIRENS, is a collection of stories all too real to be fiction. There are ghosts in there but ghosts are very real so I stand by my first statement. There are mutants and cannibals, sirens and ummm humans who lay eggs and after-death experiences - All which I believe now more than ever that they exist.

I love how at the end of each story, he brought it to the present. I found that genius. I also love how the stories are set up in existing places; Bulawayo, Harare, Plumtree etc.
And how he easily blended different timelimes!
I love the conversations in Ndebele and Shona in some of the stories. I loved that very much. The lingo was relatable and made it all too real.

PS: All the stories were my favourite but VICTOR'S SONG was my favouriter. I will give all the stories 99.9% and give it 100%.

LAYERS had me wondering if I could also lay eggs, you know, maybe if I tried hard enough.
Leroy, what happened to Brown???

GOODNIGHT, AUFIDIUS had me feeling naughty. Between those two girls, I would choose BOTH.

INTERLUDE had me wondering about my own muse and why I can't seem to write these days.

AFTERMATH cut me into pieces. I need the story between the wedding night and the court case to soothe my heart.

IN THE SHADOWS had me wanting to scream WHY? WHY!!!!

SIRENS - I wanted more from that story. It was cut just before the juicy deets.

I can't list them one by one. I want to though but I probably shouldn't. I don't want to spoil it for everyone.

My only wish is to meet the author, Leroy, and shake his hand because jealous down, he did that!!!

[Nyasha Israel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The defined impeccable taste of nostalgia perpetually becomes me after unraveling each story. I've had to slow down just in case I finish the book too soon which I feel would defeat the overall experience. I'm absolutely drawn in to the characters and their spaces. Feels fondly familiar. My favorite so far is Victor's Song. Ask me again in 2 weeks and I'll probably sing a different tune. Nothing wrong with that, the stories just keep getting better!

[Sithabisiwe Mbengwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good read.Captivating stories that leave you wanting more and more.

[Tondi]

A strong debut short story collection by Ndlovu. As the title suggests, the stories told delve into love, relationships, manhood, and the complexities of urban Zimbabwean life. I particularly enjoyed the stories set in koBulawayo (Zimbabwe’s second largest city) and isiNdebele culture. Interestingly, there are a few stories with science fiction, fantasy, and horror elements - which gave the stories refreshing variety.

Looking forward to more work from Ndlovu in the future.