This is an insightful, timely collection of stories centering on the experiences of a myriad of Zimbabwean women of varying ages from differing socio-economic and educational backgrounds. The other "isms" - colorism, sexism, racism - also come into play in both overt and covert circumstances in and out of their homes, businesses, schools/universities, and work environments. These women, while studying and working in the US, experience discrimination/racism/prejudice, microaggressions, and (in most cases) the losing side of immigration and naturalization politics. Personally, I found the stories which dabbled in culture/identity, assimilation (to and from the US), and the sacrifices surrounding the pursuit of the "American Dream" are most heartfelt and engaging. I enjoyed them all, but these stood out to me:

Return To The Land of Giant Suns – a woman returns to visits and remarks that although five years abroad, her parents appeared to have aged 15, while the city seems to have aged 20. I found her challenges and difficulties to re-assimilate, the need to dispel stereotypes and inaccuracies (on both sides) caused by what was promoted in the media about African and the US extremely insightful. I learned about the plight of Zimbabwe as a country and the residents struggling with a collapsed economy, corrupt politics, and failing infrastructure and institutions.

The Collector of Degrees – just wow – in this story, I was floored by the rules and regulations surrounding student visas and the ramifications it has on immigrants! There is just no winning in this scenario!! I did not know what I did not know!

Not So Micro – explores preconceived notions, microaggressions, and presumptions even amongst the "progressive liberals" at a dinner party in Palo Alto, CA, and my heart felt for Rudo in The Zimbabwean Dream – the expectations and obligations placed on the one who goes abroad to provide for family who remains "home," is utterly unbelievable and stressful beyond belief.

An enjoyable offering despite the somewhat depressing, oppressive vibe that is woven in many of the stories.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an opportunity to review.

A wonderful collection of short stories about female immigrants from Zimbabwe. Their experiences, goals, and aspirations are explored. The discrimination and obstacles they had to overcome was, at times, overwhelming. These stories give voice to the treatment black people, in particular women, receive daily in the United States. Seemingly innocuous comments and voiced misconceptions can be hurtful and insensitive. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advance copy of this book.

This collection will captivate you as you start reading. “Send Her Back” is just one of twelve riveting tales centering around women who immigrated to the U.S. from Zimbabwe. In that specific title, a young woman who has just been accepted into medical school is in fear of being deported.

But each of these works of fiction is so different from one another. Some elaborate on cultural differences. One woman doesn’t understand issues of race in America. She wants to stand out, so she becomes a Trump supporter. After working in the U.S., another woman goes back home to visit family and realizes that even though she misses her homeland, she and the country have changed. A U.S green card holder from Zimbabwe visits Mozambique and gets a big culture shock. Some of the women who experience bad behavior from their American boyfriends, incorrectly chock it up to cultural differences.

Some stories are so heart wrenching that you’ll think about them for days. One woman works four jobs and sleeps in her car, just so she can send money to her ungrateful family. In another story, a single mother can’t relate to her American-born teenager who thinks life would be better in another family.

One story that may seem familiar is the adult who arrived in the U.S. at the age of five but can only stay if she remains a student. This is a problem in the U.S., and the author personalizes it by adding depth and nuance as she does with every story.

There’s the abused wife who anxiously awaits the death of her elderly Zimbabwean husband. A successful stockbroker sends home for her husband only to be humiliated by him once he arrives. Then there’s the cold Minnesota winter that acts an abusive partner. These stories take place in diverse American states and cities, such as North Dakota, Indiana, San Francisco, and Baltimore.

Though these women may live lives quite dissimilar to your own, you’ll find certain aspects that you can relate to. The characters are painted with color and emotion and are very real. 

 These stories are so engaging that you can’t wait to discover what events the next one unfolds.

(This review will be posted on UnderratedReads on its release date of July 25, 2022)

This book contains a collection of short stories about young women from Zimbabwe. Several themes are explored, including: discrimination, racism, immigration and sexism. The book is well written and weaves together many different stories in a very seamless way. The author handles difficult issues with the perfect mix of straightforward descriptions and careful sensitivity. I would definitely recommend this book. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Let me begin by saying that I really enjoyed the way this book managed to reflect so many different migration experiences and difficulties, through different short stories, all featuring Zimbabwean women perspectives and the hardships of living as an immigrant in the USA.
It was really interesting to read about the cultural shock and learn about the Zimbabwean culture, about characters that were flawed and with different opinions and social backgrounds. I loved the narration, and I specially enjoyed how every story featured at least some phrases in shona.
I would definitely recommend it, mainly because I felt like this book helped me grow, shifted my view of the world, and taught me about a culture I didn't know and about some of the drawbacks of living as an African immigrant in the United States.
I really enjoyed how every short story managed to show incredible plot and character development, and the way this book showed how so many different people can share hardships and also be so different and have completely different experiences, because life is like that too.
The idea of portraying realistic stories and discuss political issues in a fiction book is so interesting and not many books manage to do that while keeping the reader interested in the plot, but Send her back and other stories really did just that

This is a collection of short stories about American women who have immigrated from Zimbabwe. Each one is a unique glimpse into the struggles and triumphs these women face in the US. One is a physicist who isn’t taken seriously by the white men she works with. Another hides her developing body for fear of becoming a woman on the receiving end of unwanted attention from men. There’s the college dropout who ends up living in her car just so she can send money home to her family. Or the woman whose husband can’t stand that she’s successful. Or the need for an endless collection of degrees to keep a student visa.

I found each story affected me in such different ways. As a female, I can certainly relate to many of the women’s stories but they are also unique to the African women from Zimbabwe. They are completely different from American black women yet are often lumped as “African” without the distinction of which country they are from. These stories are short in length but deep in their message. Females, immigrants, BIPOC can all relate to these stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mukana Press for this advance readers e-copy. The novel will be available on 7/25/22. This review can be found on IG @maria.needs.to.read and on Goodreads

This book is full of stories with varied ranges of emotions. The captivating and strong stories within this book deal with real issues that come with living in America whilst being African. Munashe Kaseke's ability to write about the hardships and the joy of being Zimbabwean is fantastic. The focus on Zimbabwean women, specifically, ties the book together. I would also say that the stories regarding happiness and pride of Zimbabwe make this book especially unique and captured the distinctive feeling of Zimbabwe's adversity. Anyone reading this book would feel enraptured by the detail, personality, and most importantly, thought that is is clearly put into this book.

🌍Really thoughtful collection on the immigrant experience🌎

4.5🌟 stars
This set of stories built around women immigrating to the U.S. from Zimbabwe was insightful and a very good read. The stories range in length, but they all realistically convey the frustrations, disappointments and sometimes tragic despair of making it as an immigrant in a far away country.

Whether homesick for their native lifestyle, language and family; or trying to successfully navigate a landmine of immigration regulations to achieve a secure place in their adopted residence; or facing the never-ending expectations and demands of their extended family back home; or dealing with stereotyping, zenophobia, misogyny and frigid Minnesota winters, the author painted a sympathetic, often tragic portrait of the immigrant fighting an uphill battle.

The writing's good, the situations relatable. From the sadness of The Zimbabwean Dream to the settled content of An Ostrich Partnership, and all degrees of failure and accomplishment inbetween, I enjoyed and learned from each story. My one minor issue was the non-English phrases that I wish had been followed by their translation. Not essential but understanding them would have been nice.

I hope to see more from this author.

Thanks to Mukana Press and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

This is wonderful short story collection, mostly bleak but candid and heartfelt. Focusing on women having immigrated to the US from Zimbabwe or still living there, it explored the struggles of leaving and the struggles of staying in one's culture.


Would have loved a glossary in the back, especially of some of the Zimbabwean expressions.

This was an emotional roller coaster. Some stories were hopeful, most were heartbreaking. This intimate look into the immigrant experience, particularly from Zimbabwe makes it impossible to not feel things. The women in these stories faced hardships that most American born citizens could never imagine but need to. Among all the hardships, I also saw empowerment and strength. Even in the stories that didn't end well. It's difficult to describe my feelings about this book. I certainly didn't "like" it, but think it is a must read.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Send Her Back and Other Stories" is a short story collection of Zimbabweans across the diaspora, but with a strong foothold in the American worldview, who are living their lives through microaggressions, puberty, and life.
It's as breathtaking in its simplicity of how difficult it is to live in America as an immigrant or child of one, as many of the vignettes are not unique, but universal. While the stories are well-written and can be enjoyed by all, I found myself asking: who is this written for? Was it to validate the experiences of others who might experience the same? Was it to educate Americans, and very often anti-Black Americans, about how they show up to immigrants and sometimes Black Americans? Is it to create community throughout the diaspora, as some of her character's struggles mirrors theirs (anti-Black people treat all Black people similarly no matter their country of origin)? I am unsure of who I would suggest this book to, but I can see where it would fit nicely on some syllabi about race, class, and gender from an American lens.

This is such an important read. I'm recommending this to all my friends. Thank you netgalley & the publisher for the arc, in exchange for an honest review.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (via Netgalley)

I don't typically read short stories but I'm glad I made an exception for this one. The writing was great throughout as the author weaved the stories of the various characters.

This is a powerful book. Send her back and other stories is a collection to understand the immigrants and their present day struggles.

The protagonists of this book are all women who've immigrated to the United States from Zimbabwe. While each protagonist's situation is unique, as a whole, they share common threads of experience. They all are struggling to survive and to be accepted by the community. This book show us the experience of migration, adaptation, and survival in a new country.

I highly recommend it.

We need more books like this! This was a collection of 16 stories. We learn lots about the experience of these women and there is value in these words.

This book was a compulsively readable collection of stories! With the exception of one story that I skipped because of a personal trigger, I could not stop reading and finished each story wanting to know how the characters were doing - in other words, I was very invested in the characters!

What a powerful tribute to underrepresented voices! As a woman of color and immigrant, many of these stories hit very close to home and helped me feel seen. I’m so grateful for this varied cast of characters and their pain, loss, joy, and hope.

I wish this had been available for this year's Juneteenth celebrations - I would have posted about it EVERYWHERE and been donating copies to local nonprofits and schools!

This collection of stories was like most - I loved some and wasn't a big fan of others. All of them had the commonality of featuring the Black experience as it relates to claiming their space in a society that is built to shut them out. I apologize that I don't have a title for this one, but my favorite story showed a high-powered Black woman holding her own in a room of white men, taking their snide comments and turning them into success for herself by whatever means necessary. The thing I took away - this work is not yet done.

This collection of short stories was a great glimpse into a culture I personally did not know much about. I do wish the tone of the stories or the voice had felt a bit more different through the different stories, but there were definitely unique, strong characters. All of the women in this collection are either in Zimbabwe or an immigrant in the United States. I liked the way that the stories tackled really tough issues. In a time when Americans can be cold and callus towards the experience of immigrants I think we need more stories that give voice to the immigrant experience.

Title: Send Her Back and Other Stories
Author: Munashe Kaseke
Publisher: Mukana Press
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"Send Her Back and Other Stories" by Munashe Kaseke

My Assessment:

'Send Her Back and Other Stories' was a collection of sixteen immigrant short stories. Some of the stories I found very hard to read and almost put the novel down; however, I was finally able to finish each one of the stories. Being a black American, these stories were hard to read these profound reads. It was good to see some of the strongest that some of these women processed in what they found out about after coming to America only looking for hope, and many did not find it here in our dear old America.

I struggled to read many of these emotional and draining stories as being told by a Zimbabwean woman. But, what got me was how many of the stories were treated so horribly—their struggles with their own families and society.

Whether or not this was a fictional story, even though it may not be true, I still believe some of it could have happened. We live in a world and see what has happened to many immigrants that have come to the US and experienced racism...yes, here in the US. If I were to have one of the sixteen stories I liked, it would be 'Ghost Of My Mother.'

Pick this one up and read and see how well this author wrote a story that the reader will ponder long after reading.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher of the ARC of this book, in return for my honest review.