Welcome to Litsy!

Like many of the books I‘m reading for #readingafrica2022 I had to sit with this one for a bit. This is without a doubt one of the strongest feminists books I‘ve read in awhile. While at the same time dark. This one will stick with you. #mozambique @Texasamanda @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

Be prepared for major melancholy and confusion in this dual narrative set in a village in Mozambique, not yet recovered from the devastations of war. Even worse is the ongoing war of men against women. So sad. As I read, I often felt unsettled by not knowing what was going on: were the murderous lions actually lions? Or spirits? Persons? Suicides? Also was conscious that I was reading a white man's tale about black women's lives. 👇

I'm about halfway and I'm hoping that whatever is going on in this novel will come and find me soon. The fear permeating this village in Mozambique is quite unsettling at this point.

They say that farther on, this river flows through the city. I doubt it. This river of mine, which doesn't even speak Portuguese, this river full of fish that only know their names in Shinakonde, I don't believe it would be allowed into the city.

Just starting this intriguing novel, which is translated from Portuguese.

Beautiful tale originally written in Portuguese. Lions are killing girls in a Mozambique village, but no one knows why. Told in alternating perspectives between a married woman & a hunter hired to find the lions, Couto paints a tapestry of village life, marriage & relationships, sexual desire, mourning, & African folklore in Mozambique. His writing is lyrical & mysterious, chronicling a story that is ultimately about women's oppression. 🦁