Short stories are a difficult genre for me, I’ve only read two this year. So if you have any recommendations, please do leave them in the comments section.
Summary
Intruders, Synonyms: trespassers, interlopers, invaders, prowlers, infiltrators, encroachers, violators
Orphan sisters chase monsters of urban legend in Bloemfontein. At a busy taxi rank, a woman kills a man with her shoe. A genomicist is accused of playing God when she creates a fatherless child. Intruders is a collection that explores how it feels not to belong. These are stories of unremarkable people thrust into extraordinary situations by events beyond their control. With a unique and memorable touch, Mohale Mashigo explores the everyday ills we live with and wrestle constantly, all the while allowing hidden energies to emerge and play out their unforeseen consequences.
My Thoughts
Mohale’s writing style is amazing and this I discovered when I read The Yearning last year (review here).
Intruders is a collection of 12 stories that are uniquely identified and addresses different topics. As the author says its “A collection of stories about nobodies who discover that they matter.” which is so interesting to read about. Its rare to find books that intricately addresses these diverse topics. At the end all these stories tie in for the main topic which was done perfectly.
The characters used in this book are easily relatable which makes it easier to understand them and how they are dealing with things. They are normal people you can find around you. This is also true even for the places mentioned throughout the book, they are familiar. With that it becomes easier to be sucked in to the stories. Some of the stories themselves are inspired by or make reference to tales that many of us grew up on.
Intruders deals with gender, violence, race, addiction and class in South Africa done masterfully and in such unexpected ways that stumbling across bits of commentary in the stories feels like discovering sweets you didn’t know were hidden in your pockets.
Rating
Book Details
Title: Intruders ||Author: Mohale Mashigo|| Publisher: Pan Macmillan || Published: September 2018 || Genre: Short stories || Pages: 182
Those were my thoughts, if you are looking for a short book then check it out. Thank you Pan Macmillan SA for sending me a review copy.
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Until next time, lets keep reading.
I avoid short story anthologies, so well done on reading this one.
Thank you. I feel you, they are intimidating at times.
I also struggle a bit with short stories. But I’m looking forward to reading this one. I’m currently reading Khaya Dlanga’s These Things Really Do Happen To Me, which is really longer version of his IG updates/Twitter timeline threads.
I thought I was the only one lol. Is it good though?