A review by maggiestraveledbookshelf
What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

📖What It Means When a Man Falls From The Sky

✍🏻 Lesley Nneka Arimah

☑️ Short Stories; Literary Fiction

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“𝙃𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙮𝙚𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚. 𝙃𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩.”

Wow. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book like this one. 

Overview: 

•Non Sequitur Short Stories

•Nigerian Women POVs

•Familial Relationships 

•Magical Realism

•Evocative Prose

𝗔 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻, 𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀, 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲.

Following a different woman in each story, the author reveals an intimate look into the lives and relationships of Nigerian women, both in their home country and abroad. The twelve short stories portray wildly different experiences and emotions, all delivered in a visceral and poignant manner. 

It’s somewhat challenging to review this collection because each of the stories is so individual, so much that it’s hard to believe (and therefore doubly impressive) that the same author wrote them all. 

While I definitely favored some stories over others, they all had a sense of immediacy and rawness that kept me captivated. 

Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a captivating read in short story format. 

✨ Read via Libby ✨ 

Here are a few quotes/passages that had my heart and soul and mind reeling: 

Story: Second Chances

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜.” 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙘𝙞𝙛𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙗𝙧𝙪𝙥𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩. 𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙗𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙪𝙥. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙢 𝙄’𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙢 𝙄’𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙣, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧.

Story: What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky

𝙉𝙣𝙚𝙤𝙢𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙞𝙛 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛, 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩, 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙢. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙩.

Story: Redemption 

“𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙨𝙥𝙪𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙩.”

“𝙂𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩.”

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Miscarriage, and Sexual assault