Things my mother left me

by Pulane Mlilo Mpondo

‘We are the source, us, its children, daughters of the sun, the soil and the stars.’ I turn and look at her, convinced that my sister has lost her entire mind. ‘The magic of the earth, its heartbeat, its molten iron, it burns in us, we carry it in our wombs and wear it on our skin and hair. The very pulse of the earth is in us, and that is what they want. That is what they offer to the serpent and in exchange it satisfies their flesh and gives them whatever they desire.’ I stare at her, looking for the place where her madness may have left a sign, but find nothing, only my sister with the eyes I have known my whole life.”

Things My Mother Left Me is an anthology of three short stories and two novellas, which explore the ways in which the traumas of our mothers are inherited by and transferred through their daughters.
The story plots themselves are connected by thread of their genealogy and serve to illustrate the similarities and vast differences passed on through the generations.

In each story, the main characters battle with and challenge various structural abuses such as rape, gender- based violence, class, parenting in unsafe environments, and the burden of complexion .

Mpondo guides the reader through each characters’ courageous navigation of their own experiences with limited resources and support, with only their will to survive to carry them. Each story addresses the vast experiences of a woman’s body and highlight the body’s policing while praising its self-defined agency.

Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Pulane Mlilo Mpondo is a 34-year-old born again Christian and mom of three little girls. Mpondo’s writing expresses a commitment to telling the stories of women, who the world considers vulnerable and without agency, in a means to redefine the limited Eurocentric understandings of self-determination while displaying an urgent need to dismantle and reconstruct perceptions of African women. Through her use of metaphor, she has a natural and effortless ability to describe a distinctly feminine energy in all its beauty, rage, resilience, or despondency to what life has served. Mpondo aims to give women with her shared heritage a platform to chant and come undone without shame. With a career spanning a decade, Mpondo has been published by and contributed to various national and international platforms including the Daily Maverick, ELLE Magazine, Marie Claire and UK Guardian. Her debut novel is Things My Mother Left Me.

Reviews

[Mr Pink Ink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Blackbird Books for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Okay, right off the bat, I was totally deceived by the gorgeous cover and the highly innocuous title of this book; I was never ready for what waited inside!

But I'm glad I got to read this together with a lovely group of people and their feedback and reactions made this story even more immersive and enjoyable - please do pop round my YouTube channel, if you've a mind to, and check out my readalong video to see how my week went; or you could just click here.

TMMLM seems to be a mishmash of genres, and it is, but this #African #Fantasy tackles huge subjects - running the gamut from gender-based violence to colonisation and subjugation - in a dark, chilling, and brutally honest way. Through this series of short stories, Mpondo paints a vast tapestry that spans across generations, highlighting themes of sisterhood, motherhood and solidarity through fierce, independent women.

Ms Mpondo's writing is delicious, dark and tantalising, unafraid to tell the truth, and oftentimes witty. Her powers of description bring the town and people of Fordville alive on the pages and her characters are well-written and multilayered. With twists and surprises galore, this book is one heck of a ride!

Please note content/trigger warnings: rape, murder, cannabilism, racism, gbv, drug use, alcohol use, swearing, explicit violence, sex, child abuse, colonisation, subjugation

[ReadingWithAngel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me my surprise! The title is nothing like the book content. I was intrigued by how the 3 short stories interconnected. It was such an easy read, I enjoyed it