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

Arimah’s debut collection of twelve short stories gives detailed accounts of the complex realities of Nigerian women. Straying away from the cliché representations, accentuated by Minna Salami, of the ‘survivor’, ‘struggler’ or ‘stereotypically empowered woman’ her characters exhibit various senses of agency that African women have often been denied in various literatures. Arimah elegantly moves from magical realism to mythology to afro-futurism, devising inimitable worlds with a playful touch in an African context. ‘Second Chances’ was my personal favourite, which had its characters, one of whom steps out of an old photograph, staying with me long after the last page.