Becoming The Muse

Drinking from Graveyard Wells

Drinking from Graveyard Wells is a short story collection written by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu a Zimbabwean surangano (storyteller). It was published by University Press of Kentucky in March 2023.

The short stories are a celebration of history and identity through the lens of African women and the battles they have had to overcome through out the ages, to the present and even beyond the mortal realm.

The Good

Drinking from Graveyard Wells is an African Fantasy anthology drawn from Zimbabwean and African legends that explores African Mythology via a blend of mundane, mystic and supernatural stories that highlight the struggles that make one leave home to find solace in distant land that comes with its sacrifices, vengeful spirits and a history that needs be remembered…

No one story is alike but they all share a common theme of action and consequence – reparations and vengeance, and echoing the adage “justice must justice must not only be done, but it must also be seen to be done.”

Reading the stories is akin to taking a walk into our past, and back to the present, and into the surreal, with fictionalised recounting of real events tempered with pop culture, urban tales and ancient lore with a spot of time travel and the African concept of time.

I started reading the book while I was waiting for a ride hailing service similar to Uber and was pleasantly surprised to learn that Zimbabwe was an inspiration for an American ride sharing company. I ended up having to cancel the ride not because I wanted to keep reading but because my meeting had been rescheduled because of a power cut – the stories in the book paint a relatable picture to most Zimbabweans so used to struggle, hyperinflation, power cuts, cash shortages – that its hard to see opportunities and the beauty our cultures have.

The Bad

A good short story leaves you wanting more, needing to know what happens on the next page, but the next page is a new adventure with new characters, that will stay with you long after you have finished reading…. Drinking from Graveyard Wells is a collection of 14 excellent short stories that leave you wishing for more.

As social commentary, it paints a rather bleak picture of the sacrifices people have to make as immigrants escaping from the shackles of home which became a place with thorns.

“On TV, a local man with a sneer on his face shouts that if it’s so bad here, then go back to where you came from. I ignore the arrogance of one who has never known what it means to have a graveyard for a home. It is the arrogance of a man with solid earth beneath his feet. But I know that the ground we stand on is quicksand pretending to be solid.”

The Ugly

The book mirrors our reality, with all its ugliness the indignities women face in being prepared for marriage which at times don’t end upon their death.

"Even in death, who has ownership over Black women's bodies?"

Some stories will break you, some feel you with rage over injustice in a world where the rich enjoy privileges while the poor cannot escape poverty and again even in death their souls find no rest but debts that need to repaid.

“When death comes to find you, may it find you alive.”

Final Thoughts

This book is a must-read for anyone in need of a crash course into African Mythology and insights into lives of immigrants as well as understand Zimbabwe packaged as speculative African fantasy fiction.

Each story is worth its weight in diamonds.