Oh, how I love a short story collection! The Newlyweds' Window is an anthology of short stories that were, as I understand it, handpicked by the publisher to specifically serve as a collection celebrating African short story writers in the year of 2022. It offers a look at the creativity of the writers who were selected, and aims to show the diversity and beauty of African life. Why they elected to advertise it that way and then open a collection like this with the story of a serial killer who collects human body parts, I cannot say for sure, but it was an ironic and rather funny decision that I really liked. There are more surprises in here than the taglines will have you believe, and I knew from the start I'd have to expect the unexpected.

As short story collections go, some entries are better than others, ranging from pretty great to pretty okay. The writing or storytelling methods were never really an issue, so I'll keep to myself which ones I thought were the best because it honestly just came down to personal opinion rather than any real criticisms, and that's what the magic of a collection is all about. The stories are varied, from beauty and culture to murder. From love, desire, and family to curses and dealings in the occult. It's a collection that adheres to the theme of "Africa" with genres interwoven freely, leaving each story open to the unexpected and curiosity of the reader.

Occasionally, I'll read an anthology from a specific genre before bed and have a few short story books going at once so I can pick and choose whatever I'm in the mood for, but having this collection be focused on just a continent with varying genres meant I never knew what to expect, and it was the only collection I needed.

Again, as with all collections, some stories are better than others, but they're all solid and it's up to you to decide which ones those are. If you frequently juggle multiple collections between genres and can't decide which to open, throw this one in as your "surprise me" option.

Thank you to the publisher, Mukana Press, for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. It was very much appreciated. ( )

Overall, this was a good collection of short stories! I love the fact that the idea for this collection came from wanting to give a platform to underappreciated authors. I think this book accomplishes that goal and all of the short stories were so different from each other so it had a good variety of themes and writing styles.

I feel like because this book is a collection of short stories all by different authors it can be harder to review. I liked a lot of them but there were a few that I did not like quite as much.

I really liked the opening story "Gasping For Air" by Ogechukwu Emmanuel Samuel, while creepy, it felt like a good way to open the collection because it certainly got my attention. I also really enjoyed "Rain" and "Our Girl Bimpe"! They all felt like whole and completed stories and I thought they were very interesting.

Overall, this has convinced me to read more short story collections! ( )

The Newlywed's Window is a unique and diverse collection of twelve stories showcasing emerging African writers, many of whom have never been published. They comprise a wide variety of genres including horror. Every story was worthy of inclusion. The stories are powerful, well written and explore themes of family, relationships, tradition, community, societal expectations and gender roles. Many address the intersection of traditional and modern worlds. My favorites were The Daya Zimu, Old Photographs, and A Letter from Ireland, all with supernatural aspects. Our Girl Bimpe cleverly offers insight into the dangers of social media. The author bios, as well as the stories, were interesting and fun to read. I really enjoyed reading these stories and the introduction to new writers. Thank you to Mukana Press and BookishFirst. ( )

Mediocre Stories

I enjoy reading anthologies and finding new authors so I was excited to read this collection. However, the stories I found inside was often confusing and mediocre at best. They often seemed to ramble and go off on tangents and never wrapped up with a satisfying conclusion.

The topics these stories dealt with varied from story to story with very different protagonists facing very strong adult conflicts. Themes such as murder, kidnapping, infidelity, divorce, and more were featured and I never felt anything hopeful from any of the stories. The title story The Newlyweds' Window, features a woman who watches a couple through her window in their most intimate marital moments and speculates on their relationship as time progresses.

This anthology might be wonderful for others to read, I just don't think I am the correct or best audience for these stories. ( )

Will be writing a review for the couple story's I enjoyed in this book:

Gasping for Air
Author: Ogechukwu Emmanuel Samuel

"Humans! They are the worst thing to have happened to Earth since the beginning" I agree with this 100% humans have ruined the earth with their greed.
I liked this story was very interesting. It was scary but caught my attention. The ending was super confusing.

Border Control
Author: Aldine Jojo Elhassan

This story was sad due to this girl's traumatic delivery and mistreatment from the nurses. Scary to read to being pregnant currently it gave me anxiety and almost had me crying.

The Newlyweds' Window
Author: Husnah Mad-hy

"But her fate was like the rest of the unmarried women; marry young, give the husband and their families some children (at least one boy), and subdue her dreams to the more practical and 'real life' expectations of Swahili women- cooking, cleaning, raising, tending to her husband, attending weddings and funerals, and the likes." This is ok if you want this in life but every girl should not be forced into it.

"She watched and could sometimes hear as they made love every night for six months straight." This is majorly creepy.

This story was creepy and confusing the main character gave off stalker vibes and needs to mind their own business and give the people some privacy.

Black Pawpaw
Author: Obinna Ezeodili
This ones really sad how they have to beg for help and than the abuse the main character receives. Also Binye seeing her as mama instead of his mom is sad. The mom should be around more. The sexual assault is sad and screwed up too and very triggering. And the Aunt died from self defense this girl shouldn't have to be punished for it she was defending herself during sexual assault. ( )