Review of Send Her Back and Other Stories
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Manasi Vaibhav Sawant
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Review of Send Her Back and Other Stories
[Following is a volunteer review of "Send Her Back and Other Stories" by Munashe Kaseke.]
The book, “SEND HER BACK and Other Stories” is written by Munashe Kaseke, who was born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe, and migrated to the USA for education.
This book has a total of 16 different short stories, based on the lives of Zimbabwean women who are immigrants in the USA. Recently I read something relevant that made me think about the lives of immigrants and their day-to-day struggle to blend in. It goes like this;
Some people see immigrant
What I see is someone was brave enough
to leave everything and everyone they know behind
to pack their lives in a handful of suitcases
to get on a plane with a one-way ticket
to travel across the globe
to go and live in a place they may never have been before
and start a whole new chapter in life.
The author has narrated every story very well. Each character is built strongly keeping all the details in mind. Also, the author did not fail to add a touch of witty humour here and there in some of the stories. In these stories, Shona language is used to express the character’s thoughts. These thoughts are translated into English in some places; in others, you must use the translator to know the meaning (if you are curious about what's happening). The author conveys struggles, feelings, painful situations, and the exploitation of immigrant workers.
Munashe Kasese wonderfully represents the difference in the upbringing of children in Zimbabwe and the USA. She also highlights how this upbringing style affects the parent-child relationship, for immigrant families. The author also shares gut-wrenching experiences of how men cheat women to keep their visa status. This book also addresses many loopholes in the rules for providing citizenship to migrants who excel in their profession; no one comes forward to sponsor the migrants including their employers for their H1B visa. So, they have to go back to college and apply for another course or degree to secure their visa status. This loop goes on and on till the end of their life. Why can't they go back to their own country instead? Read the book and you will find the heartbreaking and painful answers.
So many and more of such battles to conquer every day for the immigrants are brought up by the author with her clever writing. I love how the author ends every story; she leaves an open thread for the readers to imagine their perspective of the ending.
The editing of the book is remarkable. I am giving this book 4 out of 5 stars because I felt translation for the Shona script should have been provided every time. Also, sometimes the author sticks to one particular word or phrase and keeps repeating it throughout the story for example the word crises, I found that redundant and disengaging at some point.
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Send Her Back and Other Stories
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The book, “SEND HER BACK and Other Stories” is written by Munashe Kaseke, who was born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe, and migrated to the USA for education.
This book has a total of 16 different short stories, based on the lives of Zimbabwean women who are immigrants in the USA. Recently I read something relevant that made me think about the lives of immigrants and their day-to-day struggle to blend in. It goes like this;
Some people see immigrant
What I see is someone was brave enough
to leave everything and everyone they know behind
to pack their lives in a handful of suitcases
to get on a plane with a one-way ticket
to travel across the globe
to go and live in a place they may never have been before
and start a whole new chapter in life.
The author has narrated every story very well. Each character is built strongly keeping all the details in mind. Also, the author did not fail to add a touch of witty humour here and there in some of the stories. In these stories, Shona language is used to express the character’s thoughts. These thoughts are translated into English in some places; in others, you must use the translator to know the meaning (if you are curious about what's happening). The author conveys struggles, feelings, painful situations, and the exploitation of immigrant workers.
Munashe Kasese wonderfully represents the difference in the upbringing of children in Zimbabwe and the USA. She also highlights how this upbringing style affects the parent-child relationship, for immigrant families. The author also shares gut-wrenching experiences of how men cheat women to keep their visa status. This book also addresses many loopholes in the rules for providing citizenship to migrants who excel in their profession; no one comes forward to sponsor the migrants including their employers for their H1B visa. So, they have to go back to college and apply for another course or degree to secure their visa status. This loop goes on and on till the end of their life. Why can't they go back to their own country instead? Read the book and you will find the heartbreaking and painful answers.
So many and more of such battles to conquer every day for the immigrants are brought up by the author with her clever writing. I love how the author ends every story; she leaves an open thread for the readers to imagine their perspective of the ending.
The editing of the book is remarkable. I am giving this book 4 out of 5 stars because I felt translation for the Shona script should have been provided every time. Also, sometimes the author sticks to one particular word or phrase and keeps repeating it throughout the story for example the word crises, I found that redundant and disengaging at some point.
******
Send Her Back and Other Stories
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: A Captive in Algiers by AJ Lewis
