Courtney McDermott

Amazing, but be prepared to clench your teeth. Reading about this sort of thing in the newspaper is so different than when it's fictionalized well, and McDermott does a fine job with both the posh and poverty stricken side of the culture of South Africa and Lesotho (which i had never heard of until reading this book). I also was not aware that gang rape (see title story) was a traditional "claiming" rite for some sects, and it was interesting to think about the fact that as a paid or volunteer teacher, you might have to remain neutral and turn the other cheek, though you'd be sick inside. What is your way is not everyone's.
Throughout many of the stories of this book (which is laid out pretty nifty, but i'll get to that), there is very much the underlying current that we take education for granted, that for so many of these kids, it's the only way they'll have any chance at a better life. There's also a fair amount of snippets about tourists, always exploitative, black/white cultural stews, and the rampancy of hunger and AIDS. In the third section, which are short retellings of fairy tales or otherwise fantastical, i found "Evenings with Hilda" particularly creative. It is the story of a lonely vampire in somewhat love with an ordinary woman, who is struck with "the diagnosis" and given short shrift. What could be trite turns out to be a really lovely story in McDermott's hands.
Most of the book are quick little reads, Part One being traditional short stories, Part Two flash fiction, Part Three the fantastical. To say "I learned a lot about South Africa from reading this book" sounds rather 9th grade ridiculous; however the author's acerbic side, spot-on dialogue, and straightforward, no-frills, no-comparisons style earns her some major chops. One to watch, for sure.… (meer)

I received Courtney McDermott's How They Spend Their Sundays as an Early Reviewer on LibraryThing. It's an easily read collection of short stories, all based in Lesotho and sharing insight into the lives of the people there trying to survive through poverty, violence, and racism. The book is divided into three parts, the first a group of standard-length short stories, the second flash fiction, and the third, in which all the stories share some form of the supernatural. McDermott's prose, for the most part, is well done. Her characters will grab your heart. In fact, I found some of the stories hard to take, especially the title tale (wherein I wish the POV had been the rape victim's and not the jerk who did nothing to help her), with so many voiceless victims. Just so many victims, in general. That's probably why I liked the third part of the book the best. Magic allows the characters in these stories to succeed in ways they aren't able to in the more realistic ones. They were a pleasant relief.

Favorite stories: part one: "The Secrets of Mothers and Daughters," "Fag Hag in Fuchsia"
part two: "A Bottle Full of Nothing," "Prince Harry Flew Into the Village"
part three: "Evenings With Hilda," "The Ashen Shoes" (these two are my favorites of all three parts)… (meer)