It was my birthday at the beginning of October, and you know your friends and family get you, when your birthday presents consist mostly of books. Some of these I've read and reviewed already, but I've been getting increasingly excited about Skin Folk, and I'm not the only one either. A friend of mine even bought it on the basis of me mentioning it before I'd even read it, so I thought it was high time I shifted it from my "To Be Read" pile to the all important "Current Read" slot and make sure I wasn't out here recommending a dud.
I had absolutely nothing to worry about -Skin Folk is phenomenal.
In Skin Folk, Jamaican-born, Canadian author Hopkinson has created a world of short stories that defy categorisation into one singular genre. There's horror, science-fiction, magical-realism, flash fiction, and queer fiction. Despite the range of genre, there are strong themes that run throughout, such as sex positivity and self-acceptance, but the strongest theme here is Caribbean folklore/folk horror, and Caribbean reworks of traditional fairy tales. I've spoken before about how much I love folklore, and one of the things that particularly fascinates me about it is how it changes from one country to the next. While some fears are universal, others are very particular to a certain locale or culture, and the short author's intro at the beginning of each story helps to contextualise the narratives, even if the reader is new to the world of Caribbean folklore in particular. Occasionally these intros give us a behind the scenes look at the writing process and inspirations, which I found particularly interesting.
Often the downfall of short story anthologies is the fact that there will be duds, ones that have you itching to skip forwards to the next chapter, or checking how many pages are left. I didn't have that feeling at all with Skin Folk. I have favourites, certainly, but there wasn't a single tale that I didn't enjoy in some way. Some left me uncomfortable, some intrigued, some wanting more, but none were dull or disappointing. Hopkinson's own experiences living in Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana and Canada allow her to create varied settings and characters, all of which are rich, vibrant, intense worlds brought to life in only a few pages. There's exploration of story structure, non-linear timelines and world building, and there were quite a few chapters that I would have happily read as full length novels, I was so hooked.
So let's talk favourites. As I said, none were a let down, but some certainly left me thinking about them long afterwards, and one almost had me in tears (the good kind!).
Money Tree - A woman is plagued by nightmares of drowning and floods after her brother goes missing. I really enjoyed the strong folklore elements to this one, and the magical themes.
Glass Bottle Trick - Beatrice tries hard to be a dutiful wife for her husband Samuel, but his superstitions, as much as she tries to brush over them, have horrifying consequences. This was definitely one of the horror stories in the collection, and contained a powerful message.
Fisherman - One of the few stories in the anthology completely grounded in reality, this sex-positive, queer-positive story that was so touching and lovely that I had to read it twice.
Ganger (Ball Lightning) - A near future sci-fi tale, of an emotionally estranged couple trying to bridge the divide between them using sensation-enhancing sex-suits, until the suits malfunction horribly.
Above all else, Skin Folk is a celebration of Black Caribbean Culture, Black bodies, and Black women. As much as I enjoy Sci-Fi and Fantasy, there's no denying that they are predominantly white genres, often grounded in European values or inspired by European history, and dominated by white, male authors. In the stories of Skin Folk, Hopkinson smashes these stereotypes and shows us worlds where Black is the default, and Black is beautiful. Almost all of the protagonists are Black women, whose stories represent battling against the patriarchy, racism and mainstream societal beauty standards, and often, the true root of the horrors and the adversity faced is internalised racism. If characters triumph, they do so when they are able to give voice to their desires and accept themselves as they are, a powerful and empowering message.
So I was right to be excited, and now I can recommend it for real - Skin Folk should be on everyone's radar, Hopkinson is the kind of writer that the world of fiction - particularly genre fiction is desperately in need of. Do yourself a favour and immerse yourself in the many worlds of Skin Folk.
Comments