A Life in Full and other Stories

As a short story aficionado, I am always ecstatic when the season for the Caine Prize rolls in, because it gives an opportunity to discover new short fiction which celebrates the diversity of the African continent. The coordinators of the coveted prize often compile the submissions (and then some) into a short story collection and here is the one from 2010. The title story is from Nigeria’s Jude Dibia:

Mabel recoiled at her daughter’s words. A long silence punctuated by the ticking of the wall clock ensued. All her life she had hoped to shield her children from the disappointment she had always felt about her marriage – the sacrifices she had to make; enduring the scorn of a man that did not love her or see her as an equal; her frustration with dreams unfulfilled. In a moment of clarity, she realized that in pursuing the happiness of her children’s lives and their marriages, she had  been trying to find fullness in her own life.