Status Updates From No Sweetness Here and Other...

Also, I mistakenly read ahead, IM FINISHED?

Other Versions was sublime. AAA can write about motherhood!

Something to talk about on the way to the funeral was piping, hot tea. I love these lighter reads. I’ll stop rating them individually actually I lied ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I will give The Late Bud - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 sooo close to 5 stars. As a fellow labelled as lazy child for wanting to play this was real. AAA does motherhood and parent/child relationships so well. This is definitely one I wish I could continue to follow.

You can’t force a leopard to change its spots, Two Sisters was a lighter, even comedic entry. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Gift from Somewhere ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was a surprise gem and what a direct contrast to No Sweetness Here. As one child dies unexpectedly, one lives unexpectedly. AAA is masterful, truly. Motherhood is such a prevailing theme that she covers so well.

“He popped it into his mouth and his tongue received the bitter piece of fruit with the eagerness of a lover.”

“He is angry with shame.”

“ I saw the highest castles I had built for him come tumbling down, noiselessly and swiftly.”

“When flour is scattered in the sand, who can sift it?

No Sweetness Here, drilled two large holes in my heart and tugged at its strings.

Choice quotes: His eyes were of the kind that always remind one of a long dream on a hot afternoon”

“Chicha, our people say a bad marriage kills the soul. Mine is fit for burial.”

That was devastating.

I can’t say I understood all of the story but funny. ⭐️⭐️

The sister turned out to be a lady of the night? ⭐️⭐️

The concluding question of the chapter hit me straight in the chest? Independence for all, was more of independence for some. This was insane. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!

“Now the anger is gone, and I stay here. My young Master, what does “Independence” mean?”

There’s no world-building here, every word is meticulously selected to convey a deeper message. We hear from a veteran soldier turned cook who unwittingly laments on the false promises of communal elevation and development that accompanied independence. Only to be met with superficial gestures of improvement.

“Where is the earth? Who is going to do the planting? Certainly not us – too full with drink, eyes clouded in smoke, and heads full of women . . . and our hearts desiring only nonsensical articles from someone else’s factory. . . .”

I honestly hand on heart said “WOOF, she’s writinggggggg” when I finished the chapter.

Choice quotes
“I’m mad but I think I’m sane enough not to drink pressed, homogenised, dehydrated, re-crystallised, thawed, diluted and heaven-knows-what-else orange juice, imported from countries where oranges do not grow, when I can eat oranges.”

“She knew them as intimately as the hems of her dresses”

1st story “Everything Counts” is a really good introductory short story. Simple to understand, strong message and some really good instances of writing as shown above. I think for me the perennial discourse that excessively policies the wig wearing of only black women is redundant. ⭐️⭐️⭐️