La Bastarda | 
pickSoft pick.
#LGBTQBookBingo and Cottage Read #5
The first book by a woman from Equatorial Guinea translated into English and it‘s a queer book!
Was a little stilted and hard to connect at times, though the struggle to be accepted is worldwide. I wish we got more of her life after the book ended.
The afterword was great and am important read about the use of corrective rape when lesbian women are outed. Lots of trigger warnings for this one
Waiting in the car. Starting this one.
pickI dropped the ball with #ReadingAfrica2022, but I enjoyed this short novel from Equatorial Guinea. Okomo is an young woman, navigating life as the daughter of an unmarried woman, dealing with family drama and falling in love with another girl.
There aren't many Equatorial Guinea novels and beggars can't be choosers, but still... I wished the translation flowed better, and the writing was less didactic. It's probably going to be a soft pick nonetheless.
#EquatorialGuinea #Africa #LGBTQI+
Picture of the writer from Wikipedia
so-soI got a rare and unique insight in #EquatorialGuinea, a country I knew nothing about, a country that never makes the news. Having said that, the story was not written well. It‘s about the coming out of a girl, being a so called “man-woman”. I appreciate the book though for learning about this small country.
#ReadingAfrica2022 🇬🇶 #pop22 #AboutGenderIdentity #Booked2022 #ComingOutStory #52BooksIn52weeks #IndieRead
(Pic: Shoreditch, London)
KarenUK, Megabooks, Cinfhen, BarbaraTheBibliophage, Cortg, jenniferw88, Librarybelle, Laughterhp, alisiakae, squirrelbrain, RaeLovesToRead
#WeeklyForecast 14/22
This week‘s line up consists of a Dutch one with cutlery on the cover (for a challenge prompt!), an African book and one from the International Booker longlist. Looking forward to all of them!
In between I am reading little bits of The Books of Jacob. It‘s hard work!
pickI‘m always humbled when books remind me of all the stories from places I wouldn‘t know to reach for. Humbled even more that as much as queerness is declared unAfrican, here we are, all over the literature & histories across the continent.
This book was a mirror of so much & a reminder of so much more. The quick sarcasm & then the painful earnestness the lead navigates the world with(same Okomo) are things I loved and will remember to hold dear🧡
pickAn amazing, eye-opening novella about a lesbian teen, Okomo, an orphan who lives with her grandparents in a traditional Fang settlement in Equatorial Guinea. Despite the odds being against her—same sex love is reviled by the villagers, and her family expects Okomo to bring them dowry wealth by attracting a husband—this story has a happy ending. #Translation from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel. #WITmonth #LGBTQ
“Your uncle was never a normal child. Ever since he was little, he liked women‘s things: cooking, cleaning, smiling, and talking too much. Your mother‘s home was like a church altar it was so clean!”
(Internet photo)
“What is a woman without a man? Dina is on the brink of old age—she is 18 years old and has no husband! And her family still has not benefited from her body.”
(Internet image)
The men left for the House of the Word to wait for the food, and the women went into one of the two kitchens depending on their place in the hierarchy of polygamous families. First wives went into my grandmother‘s kitchen, while second, third, fourth (and so on) wives went over to the kitchen of Osá‘s second wife. The two groups hated each other intensely.
I‘m late to the party on this one but I wanted to post about this book I just discovered that I‘ll be buying when I can afford it! La Bastarda is the first book by a woman from Equatorial Guinea to be translated into English, and it‘s by a bisexual woman tackling homophobia in her country. Putting this out there for pride month, #blacklivesmatter and #blackpublishingpower pick that has excellent reviews. Wish I had the funds to try it myself rn!
pick"The first novel by an Equatorial Guinean woman to be translated into English, this is the story of the orphaned teen Okomo, who lives under the watchful eye of her grandmother and dreams of finding her father. Forbidden from seeking him out, she enlists the help of other outcasts: her gay uncle and a gang of girls. Drawn into their illicit trysts, Okomo finds herself rebelling against the rigid norms of Fang culture."
It has been a while but I am currently working on my June/Pride month TBR. We are starting with "La Bastarda" by Trifonia Melibea Obono translated to English by Lawrence Schimel.
so-soI really wanted to like this book. It wasn't bad (I would give it 3.5/5 stars. I really feel like something was lost in the translation.
