Honestly, this one just didn't stick out to me. I really don't have any memory of it while coming back to write this review.

wonderful collection of stories! i loved learning about all these characters and how they were linked

Definitely interesting perspectives and well written stories. Just not very engaging for me personally

Thank you to House of Anansi Press & NetGalley for the advanced copy of this one! I received a physical advanced copy quite some time ago when I was doing the Anansi subscription (which is so worth the money if you're interested at all!!!) I read it but completely forgot to come back and update my review. I promise I'll get better at reviewing someday!

Anyways! I have to start by saying: I have never read a short story collection so beautifully interconnected. I feel like I should have written down some sort of chart to remember the connections between different individuals; every time I realized a connection, I had a little moment of "oh, wait!" The only small thing for me is that my memory isn't the best, so since I didn't read the book in one sitting I forgot some of these connections.

To be transparent, I have never read a work before that centered on the experience of Somali individuals. I hadn't thought of it, but I learned from the reading experience simply from all of the new things I was reading about (and all the terms I ended up looking up). It makes you consider the importance of storytelling and reading outside of what you are used to, which seems obvious in theory but is so much more powerful in action.

If you love short stories, try this collection. Whether you connect the connections for yourself or not it is so worth the read.

Some stories are stronger than others, but they are all pretty solid.

I was disappointed at the lack of emotional depth that the stories seem to have, especially considering that the title has the word PRIVATE apartments. I had an expectation of more intimate stories.

I am so thankful to House of Anansi Press, Netgalley, and Idman Nur Omar for granting me advanced digital access to this jarring thriller. I couldn't put it down and can't wait to consume more of this like-minded content going forward.

This collection of stories is exceptional. What a joy to read and so fascinating. The author consistently writes with tremendous confidence and a great deal of understanding about the subjects of her stories. This is the strongest collection of short stories I have read in a long time. There is so much frustration and regret in these stories but I never felt the author was leading me on or that she lost her great amount of sympathy for her characters. Her writing technique,subtle,suggestive reminded me of the greatest short story writers of all time. This book will be appreciated and celebrated for a long time. I have already told all of my reading friends that they must read this book. There is so much wisdom and compassion in the book. I feel very strongly that this book will be long-listed for the Giller prize this fall. I feel like I could read all of the stories a second time because they brought me to such evocative places. This collection will land on Canada reads one day because it is a brilliant introduction to a community we don’t know enough about. I can’t wait to see what will come next from this author. I am sure she has even greater works to write ahead of her. Magnificent-the type of writing that makes me want to never stop writing.
Truly a great gift to the reader.

The characters in this book are diverse, not only in terms of where they come from, but in how they view and relate to the world. Yet despite their diversity they manage to find common ground. I wish the character's were a bit more flushed out and their lives more drawn as I found myself puzzling at times as to why they did what they did.

The writing is good, and I can see potential in this author. These are eight stories about Somali refugees/immigrants. Mostly they are fun, interesting stories. The last one was a complete change of tone from the rest of the book – about a drug dealer and gang violence. Not a good note to end on. To call this a novel is a stretch – even to say that the stories are interconnected is a stretch. There are a few recurring minor characters, but there are so many characters, and many names are so similar, that it was confusing trying to find the connecting threads. The stories are very loosely connected.

Really well written interesting collection of stories.An intimate look at the lives of Somali immigrants in different locations. their private moments.#netgalley #house of anasi

This is a fine collection of slice-of-life short stories about Somali refugees in Europe and Canada. Life is insular - there are practically no characters who are non-Somali - and thus somewhat confined. Most of the main characters are woman struggling to find an identity somewhere between traditional Somali/Muslim society (mostly represented by the men around them) and a western society allowing a larger range of choices. All seem to suffer a degree of alienation and a sort of emotional flatness; this comes to a surprising climax in the final story through a 12 year old girl.

Recommended reading for real insight into a group of people who are usually invisible in our literature.

In a dystopian near future, convicted murderers are pitted against each other in death matches that have become a very popular national sport.

The copy I received has no story titles and text is missing from the beginning of each story. The stories are essentially unreadable for that reason. I'll be happy to submit an updated review if I'm given a complete copy of the book.

The Private Apartments shares an array of intertwining stories of the lives of Somali immigrants and their children.

While I did not have much knowledge on the subject, I felt the characters and writing of this novel pushed me to become more educated. i is was surprised that these stories were not as intimate or necessarily emotionally heavy as expected, but quick glimpses that occasionally felt unfinished. I enjoyed the broad spectrum of characters and the differences in their social and financial statuses. This was a quick, but effective read that I think many will enjoy.

Special thanks to the publisher for allowing me to read an e-arc of this book!

The Private Apartments follows a diverse array of Somali immigrants, and children of immigrants, living in different parts of the world. The eight stories take place between 1991 and 2020, during which time the Somali Civil War has been ongoing. Some characters were refugees; others left Somalia before the war fully broke out. Some moved to Europe, others to North America. Moving forward chronologically, readers get a look at how similar yet different these Somali immigrants’ experiences are. These are simple slices of life, yet they make for a nice tapestry of the characters’ day-to-day emotions and situations.

One of the strongest recurring themes across The Private Apartments is the depiction of mental health. In Welland, Ontario in 2000, we meet a mother who is depressed and experiences suicidal ideation. Later, in 2016, a young woman has had a mental breakdown (something her family thinks may have been a possession by a djinn); she visits family in Dubai during her recovery.

This relates to another thread running through these stories: Most of them highlight women who are self-reliant and are stronger when they can support each other. Several men here are shown in a negative light (cheaters, deadbeats, liars, and so on), though not all. However, even the “good” men seem to benefit from the strength of the women around them. Consider the elderly man in Amsterdam in 2008: He’s much better off after a mother and daughter take it upon themselves to help him out around his home. Even so, many characters (women included!) are morally gray or even just unlikeable. I usually preferred the stories with kinder or more relatable characters.

Some characters reemerge between stories, or their children may show up in a later story, but it’s done in a fairly loose way. You’ll have to pay close attention to see how these stories connect with the others! The only character who features prominently in two stories is Ladan. She stars in Rome, 1991 as the new immigrant and love interest for Raffael. Then in Amsterdam, 2008, she is a single mother to two kids, and her latest project is helping the elderly Somali refugee who’s all alone.

Among the eight stories offered here, my four favorites were Rome, 1991; Amsterdam, 2008; Toronto, 2011; and Dubai, 2016. Each was engaging, and I enjoyed the characters as well as their story arcs.

The Private Apartments is an interesting if somewhat distant look at ordinary people living their complicated lives. As different as they all are, they share their heritage and culture, whether living in Canada or Italy or the United Arab Emirates. It’s a thoughtful collection, and I look forward to reading more from Idman Nur Omar.

United States Publication: May 2, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley and Astoria for this advanced reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

Following several Somalis between 1991 and 2020 and crisscrossing the world this collection of stories attempts to show the interconnections between not just humans but cultures. Unfortunately, the book fell flat for me. The characters and storylines felt very undeveloped and unfinished. And I didn't feel the stories had any real purpose or message, if there were then the messages were too subtle, too vague, too shrouded to convey whatever Omar wanted to. The majority of the characters were largely unlikeable in my opinion. According to other reviews, I'm an outlier in my thoughts about this collection. I'm glad for Omar and her efforts that others liked this collection, it just wasn't for me.

This was very very good. Omar tells us intertwining stories about Somali refugees living in a variety of apartments over the years in places like London, Rome, and Toronto. Some of the stories are linked to each other and some are not. I do have to say the last story's ending got into the fantasy realm (which I liked). The other stories were very rooted in the here and now for the characters. I would usually give you a star rating on each story, but all of them were honestly five stars. I will just break down each story and how it links to prior characters. The book starts off in 1991, the year the Somali Civil War began.

Rome 1991-This story follows an Italian young man named Raffel. He feels harassed by his aunt to visit her though she's done a lot for him. While there he meets his aunt's newest housekeeper, Ladan. Ladan is a Somali refugee that is dealing with living in Italy and having her brother take all of her money. She feels very sturdy as a character. You can feel why Raffel finds himself growing attracted to her. Of course there are some issues, foremost if the color of her skin.

London 1998-We follow a woman named Warda who we find out is hiding a secret from her husband (Daud) and others. Once upon a time, a man, not her husband, gave her gold. This story fascinated me a lot. Warda just wants a little something for herself, but realizes the repercussions of what she did and did not say to a man named Yusuf and how he just won't go away the way she needs him to.

Welland 2000-We follow a woman named Jija Hussein who is living with four other Somali families in a a co-op. Her cousin Mulki helped her find the place, but the two other women she meets, Sofia and Zainab are who brings her back to herself in a way that she hasn't felt in a long time. I felt sad reading this one because it seems all of the women in this story are trapped either by circumstance or men into a life they really don't know how to get out of. In this story, a married couple named Yasmin and Samir are discussed, they come up in another story.

Toronto 2005-We follow Samir and Yasmin in this story who came up in the other story. The married couple seem to be at odds and Samir doesn't know what to do in order to not only keep Yasmin, but "put her in her place." He finds himself trying to control her via not allowing her money or providing her rides to the many weddings that she wants to go to. The ending of this story leaves a lot unsaid, but you can guess what happens next. Heck, even Samir seems to have seen this coming which may account for his anger and resentment. The two of them have a young son named Bilal who will come into play in another story.

Amsterdam 2008-We follow a young girl and her mother (who she refers to as Hooya) and her brother named Faisal. We quickly find out that the characters are linked back to the first story taking place in Rome in 1991. I liked this one where we find out what happened to Ladan. I wish we got more details about her. The story told through her daughter's eyes leaves so many questions. I was curious why Ladan got hyper focused on taking care of an older Somali refugee named Rashid Barre.

Toronto 2011-We follow Amira who despite the opportunity to marry, turns it down to be "something more." Working at an attorney's office gave her a feeling of self-satisfaction, but she moves on later to another attorney named Brock who seems to be hiding a lot. I loved this story, and loved how Amira is wondering more and more about her ex who she starts to think reminds her of Brock. But it quickly becomes apparent, everything is not what it seems with Amira's ex or Brock.

Dubai 2016-A woman of 27, named Rabiya, is foisted on her aunt and her family in Dubai. We don't know what went on, but we slowly realize the incident that caused her to be sent away. Very interesting story and I liked how everything unspools.

Toronto 2020-We follow a young woman named Jihan who goes to the hospital with a pain in her stomach. While there she runs into a boy from her neighborhood (Bilal) who she could have sworn was murdered. The story goes back and forth about the incident, the funeral, and Jihan who can't stay away from the hospital where Bilal seems to be hiding from something.

This short story collection was so unique and interesting! Though each of the eight stories was set in a different year and location, they were all connected in some way.

Each section has a narrator voice unique to specific story being told. I felt the author did a great job of choosing when to use first person and when to use third person. I noticed this especially in the story of Jija, Sofia, and Zainab. Though that section was focused on Jija, the more important story there was the community and the friendship of the three women, and third person was so effective in impressing that on the reader.

I particularly loved the way the last section ended. Ending an essay collection of immigrant stories steeped in longing for returning to Somalia has such emotional impact.

I did have a difficult time picking up on the relationships between stories, as they are all loosely connected but not tightly intertwined. Still liked the book though; would recommend!

8 gripping, domestic stories about the lives of Somali immigrants in different cities. I loved this, and the stories felt nicely connected.

Rating: 3.5/5

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a really fast read and I think some stories were maybe too short for me to get invested. However there were definitely some I really enjoyed reading! I’m not usually one for pieces like these but the writing was overall engaging which I appreciated.