Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite

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[00:01:03] No. She actually tried to blame me. I didn't try. You're right. She blamed me. For what? She was like, and I blame you for this book choice. I said, I didn't even pick this book choice. I said it was fine, but I did not pick it. Well, it's funny because I didn't pick it. Why is there a need to assign blame? Because her name is Denisha. None of us picked it, though. It was a group thing. So if none of us picked it, how we end up reading this book. We was scrolling through what we had. We were on scroll.

[00:01:33] It was just thrown out. It was just thrown out. Shout out Libro. Because they were quite a few days. That we still just had that we just didn't listen to. I know I didn't want to read no scary book because I feel like the scary choices were really scary. You never want to read a scary book. But there's a range of scary. It was one or the other. So we had two choices. Take it to hell or... It goes to Kayla. Because I didn't want to read a scary book. Yes.

[00:02:03] Basically, yes. Because we didn't read the scary book. We read this book instead. And we had two scary choices. I... Hold on. Time out before y'all. Put down your pitchforks. Okay. All I said was, oof, scary book. Okay. I'll do it. I won't enjoy it. I'll be scared. Shivering in me timbers. But I was also driving at the time. So I couldn't have picked the book. I was driving. That's a strong... Three options.

[00:02:32] If we gave you three options on the phone and you picked the least scary one. Whoever introduced the option, that's who we need to figure out. Because I couldn't have done it. And that goes back to Aziza. We'll never... What? How? Because I know I recommended a scary book. Because I said, ooh, Blood Fire Baby. And Alex recommended a scary book. And we were like, yeah. That Casoco Jackson book. And Kayla was like, is that scary? And we thought about reading the macabre. I know it's scary. And she was... Right.

[00:03:00] And then we randomly switched it. You know what? You know what? This is just a group... This was... Like Alex said, this was just a group decision. It was just a group choice. A group choice. And it's too late to take it back. We already read it. And I'm too late. We've gone through it. No, I know. And it's over. Right. But... But... I just want the record to show...

[00:03:28] This was not my choice. You agreed to it. So it's a quarter of your choice. I'm sorry. Isn't that how democracy works? If three out of four say yes, then the one out of four... Did you say no? ...unfortunately is overruled and just goes with it? I don't remember anyone. I don't think anyone said no. All four said yes. Exactly, Kayla. All four of us said yes. We never... We never... Agree on a book unless we all agree. Lesson learned. Necessarily. Inglings. What's the lesson?

[00:03:58] I will put up a shrink. I will put up a fight and y'all are going to be annoyed. First of all... First of all, you did. Because I said three different books initially and you said no to each one. And I remember being like, well, what do you want to read? Because all you said is no. T for time out. I was just letting y'all know that I had started a lot of these books. Then y'all took it as, oh, well, we can't read them because Nish done already started a... No! I had several that I would have been okay continuing. No!

[00:04:29] No! Now, anyways, all I'm saying is, for me personally, I will never let this happen again. Don't worry. I will put up a big stink. This is just like that time we were going to go out. And we weren't going to. And we're like, we don't really want to. We should just stay in and order pizza. And then we're like, no, we should go out. And we went out to that club. Oh, my God. It was... And that lounge. And that man kissed Kayla.

[00:04:58] And someone compared me to a Thanksgiving meal. And my feet hurt. And we were sitting on the side of the... Mind you, though. Of the metro. We were. We looked fabulous. Let me... To be honest, We did. We really wanted to get out. Because so many things happened. And then we went home. We looked so good, though. And we were like, we should have stayed in. And then we ordered that pizza anyways. But so many things happened. It was a very funny night. So I'm like, that wasn't... To me, that wasn't an L. It was good for the Lord. But that's not the... It was good for the... It was. It was. We got a great picture of it. But that's not the point of the lesson.

[00:05:28] We learned... The lesson that we learned that night was, when we have an inkling, we follow it. That was the lesson that night. Right. So back to my point. Don't worry. I will never let this happen again. All right. First, I... I'm just gonna say this. Y'all don't... Let me not say y'all. Denisha, you don't even care for contemporary fiction. That's a good point. And that's the problem. That's a good point, Kayla. No. So... This is the publishing... I don't even think we thought this was contemporary fiction when we started it.

[00:05:58] I thought this was like... I'm really gonna say this. A fantasy book or something. You thought it was a fantasy? Kayla. Well, it's called... Well, what is the book called, y'all? I knew... Her daughters. Her daughters. I knew... This book has been on my... Like I said, I somehow ended up with a signed copy. I've known what this book is about. It's been on my TBR. I thought everybody knew it was a contemporary fiction. She memorized the back of the book, y'all. Damn. I didn't know that. Hold on. Not too much. Not too much. I didn't. I just knew it was contemporary fiction. Now... Okay, so listen.

[00:06:28] This is halfway right over my head. Sometimes you have to take a look at the inside of the cover and see what the book is about for a second. I don't have it. Oh, I didn't want to judge it before. Oh, my God. I don't have it either. Shout out to LibroFem. On the Libro, it has this dandy thing where it has the description of the book. Mind you, this episode... I don't read those. ...right now is not sponsored by Libro, but if you would like to help continue to fuel our debates on what we're going to read... Thanks. We'd love the sponsorship.

[00:06:58] Shout out to Libro. Whatever. Let's get into it. Let's get into it. It's another episode of the The Reading Black Girls Podcast. If you stuck through our behind the scenes, this is how we'd be talking to each other. Welcome. Glad to have you. I'm Nish. I'm Alex. I'm Kayla. And I'm Aziza.

[00:07:27] We are the Reading Black Girls. Yo, please. Kayla, is your inner ear working? What do you mean? I'm scripting. Like your mic. Can you hear me? I feel like it's delayed. Yeah. Yeah. I was having some tech difficulties. Like you were sounding choppy. Oh, that's weird. Okay. It's okay. We will prevail. It's fine. You guys can hear me though, right? Yeah, girl. For sure, sister. Okay.

[00:07:57] For sure. Okay. Perfect. Please can't hold me back. Don't you fret. Please can't hold me back. Okay. Well, somehow we landed upon... This is what was going to happen. Okay. We were supposed to... I think this was supposed to be a yap session. We had previously said we were going to read some book weeks ago. We decided not to move forward with reading that book. So we said, you know what would be crazy? If we just in one week read a book, a quick little audio book, a quick little side mission.

[00:08:27] So we scrolling through Libro FM, seeing what books we have, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, Cursed Daughters. This is what we picked. So I don't know if anyone else started last week. I just started this book two days ago. I started this week. Yeah. I think it was this week. Gotta keep it fresh. Yeah. Keep it fresh. Yeah. Keep it fresh. Keep it fresh. Started it like three days ago. Right. Hot. But it was... One day I didn't even listen. I was reading something else. See? But I think there's...

[00:08:57] But this was like an easily like... It was easy. I don't know, consumable book. Like, I don't know. It was. It wasn't long. You just had to like lock in for a second. You just had to lock in. It was quick. And I feel like the chapters were very short. They were short. Which I like. That does always keep me. They were short. They were deceptively short. Yeah. There was something happening. Kind of every chapter was ending a little crazy. Yeah. I was like, oh. Right. Like you're getting bits and pieces as you're going. Yes. But you're like, wait, what? And I just... Yeah. My take...

[00:09:25] My biggest takeaway from this book... Actually, there's two. First off. Something about a family curse. I kind of like that. I don't know what it is about a family curse. I eat up a family curse too. I love a family curse. Like, girl, what's the problem? Why is this here? Why do we have a curse upon the family? Like... For generations? For generations. What did y'all do? Right. Like, did y'all really deserve it to like... Right. So like... Generations. Just one person? No. Everybody. Everybody has to get punished. So that's one.

[00:09:55] Yeah, and actually, we're going to talk more about that later. And two, am I the a** if I ask my cousin to go get a matching abortion with me? And then I don't get the abortion. You are, in fact, the a**. I'm sorry. You are. You are. Indeed are. I'm sorry that we didn't say nothing. Why didn't you ask the question? Why didn't you say nothing? That reveal at the end, I'm just so... Sick. I just was like very sick about it. Because I'm like... I'm thinking... It wouldn't... I mean, like... It couldn't have been nothing that...

[00:10:24] But I know that Monifei did, like, you know... Commit suicide. And like, that is really bad. And I mean, she... As we're learning through her POV, like, you know, she's experienced the curse firsthand herself. Like, she's losing her man every single time she's trying to keep him. Even when she's using... What did they call it? Not magic, but... You know. Juju. A little juju on him. Burying his handkerchief and stuff. I'm like, ooh, you're a witch. And when he saw that pad come out her purse...

[00:10:53] Okay. Ooh, you're a witch. Oh my gosh. That was so embarrassing for her. Yeah. Not your witchcraft husband found out. It's not what it looks like. It's not what it looks like. And then she was like, I'm sorry. Like, I didn't even use on you. I changed my mind. But actually, you didn't. I see my name on it. Right. You wrote his name first, middle, and last in bold. Listen. She didn't want to lose her man, y'all. A girl got to do what she got to do. That's the curse. You sometimes have to do what you have to do. The curse is they lose all their men. They do. Or they only get like half the man.

[00:11:24] You only have him a little bit. You have to share him. I thought that was such an interesting curse. It wasn't that they died or anything. It was literally like they just wouldn't... You'll never just have a man committed to you, which is crazy. That's actually really terrible because they then kept having daughters who were straight. So it's like... True. True. True. But I want to go back to the beginning of the curse. I want to go back to the beginning.

[00:11:49] I honestly feel like the woman who placed the curse, I do genuinely feel like she was overreacting. Oh, absolutely. I don't think... I don't think they called for all... No. They never blamed the man. Why not? She was there first. And she was like, I'm gonna curse you. But she was there first. That's the crazy thing. She had your man first. Right. Yeah. She had a baby body. But I think that just...

[00:12:16] This is just good social commentary about how men often escape anything. Same man. Accountability. No responsibility. Misogyny. Like, this is a thing that women can perpetuate against other women. You know? Yeah. Down with the patriarchy. And that's down with the patriarchy. Oh. And that's, like, the cause of the curse in itself. Honestly. But you're right, Z. It is. Like, they never thought outside of that box ever. And that's what really got me.

[00:12:46] Just don't be with a man. Yeah. Mm-hmm. But you know what I thought? I thought that... Well, I was hoping that the cousins and the friendships, the female friendships would be stronger because you can't keep a man. You would think. You would think. You would think. But it wasn't... It was like they never even had homegirls. They could never even keep homegirls or friends or... Because they were too focused on trying to break the curse. Curse, yes. And I'm going to be honest. Mm-hmm.

[00:13:15] I don't think they tried hard enough. I don't think so either. What do you think? Oh, put it out there. What would you have done? They didn't visit enough women, shamans and such. Honestly. But that was only one person. I know, but I was... She was doing it all on her own. They should have started working hard generations ago. And that's the problem. The grandma needed to do that. Y'all don't want this curse. The daughter needed to do it. The grandbaby needed to... They needed to be going to the spiritual realm to break the curse.

[00:13:45] But instead, they were like, let me work extra hard to keep this man. Yeah. He won't be kept. He'll never be kept. And in fact, curse her bloodline back. Hello? No one said you can't curse him back. And you know what? Yeah. I'm here for that. Curse back. Curse back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, oh, I'm cursed. Curse for curse, baby. As long as this curse exists on my family, you'll never be able to keep any of your children. How about that? Oh my gosh. A Cersei level curse.

[00:14:15] Cersei from Game of Thrones. If we're going to do it, we have to do it. If you're going to curse someone, curse them. Send it right. Full send it in. So it's like, they were just really stuck in this box and I didn't like that. I just really felt like more could have been done to either break the curse, get a get back or at least have a good life. They seem like they were miserable quite often. That's because they had just kind of accepted reality. Kind of.

[00:14:42] You know, you already know how that goes with the aunties and the grandmas and stuff. Like, they'd just be so sad. Like, once the grandma's grandma used to grandma was, they were like, oh, we're okay. I guess because like Monife's mom, she was practicing in the juju trying to like keep her man back that way. And then Evelyn's mom just like dipped and was like, I'm a single mom, babe. Like, I don't want to do this. I think it is what it is. Right. Yeah.

[00:15:08] But can I say like, I guess why no one else wanted to come back reincarnated? Just Monife? Nobody else ever thought like, I'll be back. Well, Monife was the only one who left, I feel like the way she did. Oh, that's true. And that's why. That's true. She was the only one who put it in her own control. Yeah. Good point. Good point. Hate the way she did. Yeah. Hate the way she did. Like, that's really unfortunate. I felt so like it would, it was getting me sick.

[00:15:33] Like when they like in her POV, when she's with golden boy and then he starts like hanging out with that other girl. Man. Because of the mama. I was getting like sick. I was like, girl. When the mama said the mom introduced her. Yeah. She said, it's over for you, sister. It's over for you. Yeah. You're losing him. You're losing him. She was trying to keep him. She went on that lunch date with him. I was like, girl, that's weird. And then she got like pissy drunk at the lunch date because it was very frustrating. I.

[00:16:00] And then he just dropped her off and then they rode off in the car together. Yeah. And then you were throwing up. That is not your man anymore, sister. And your cousin was holding her hair. That is not your man anymore, sister. Yeah. And he's gone. Her man. The mom was like, oh, come out to lunch with me. Oh my gosh. As soon as that happened. And then she went. Right. You don't be thinking. You don't be thinking. And that's the problem. You're not thinking. Why would you go to lunch? Monita was getting lost in the sauce. She was very lost in the sauce. She was. Deeply. She was trying to like.

[00:16:30] She was just trying to keep her man. She was trying to keep her man. And the fact that like. They broke up. She's like crying in her bed and she's like. They're waking up for their wedding right now. An hour later. He's like. That's so crazy. They're on the way to the church right now. I'm not even going to lie. That was insane. I literally was sitting there like my mouth was open. Literally. Hand over my mouth. I said, oh my gosh. I said, oh, this is bad. I said, this is actually going to get worse. This is going to get worse. And it did. It did.

[00:16:56] It was them starting an affair when they see each other for the first time in years at the grocery store. I'm like. Wait, wait, wait. He talking about some. Not them. Him. He pulled up at that house. Was outside. And he was like, hey, guh. What you been doing? Yeah. I missed you. He pulled up to her house. Been three years. I missed you. The compound. You're married. I was so mad.

[00:17:23] Remember she didn't know that he had a child. That was a crazy revelation. After they smashed. That's when she finds out. When they were pregnant at the same time. When Eboo came in and was like. Yeah, golden boy. Yeah. How's your daughter? How's your wife? How's your daughter? No, no, no. Tea for time out. Were y'all not gagged when she was like. Figuring out that she was pregnant. And then very shortly after. She found out that he had also gotten her. Got his wife pregnant at the same time. Yep. Yeah. I literally was like. Oh, you ain't shit. And then. Oh. And then.

[00:17:53] To make it go even further. She pulls up to the house. The wife and his mom. The wife and the mother-in-law are there. And they're like. And then. The man isn't there. Why would you try to trap this man? He's married. Trap. She said. He. Not kissing that child. What? Nobody's trying to trap him. Because the child will never get into good schools. Right. Okay. So now. So now we're literally taking the patriarchy by the hand. And we're just walking them through our life. Like. That's what we're doing.

[00:18:23] Amara. That's what we're doing. I said. Very much so. That's weak. Like. Girl. What is you trying to do? You was really trying to like. Just carry weight at that meeting. But it's like. Your man literally had a baby on you. Right. Hello. Like. You chose that. I'm sure. I'm sure your womanly intuition knew that he was cheating on you. You bet. You knew. Had to. She knew. And then. They were having a wild affair. Running around. And then. Yeah. And then on top of all of it. He's going to come back. And say.

[00:18:53] Hey. I got you financially. But. I don't think I should do this anymore. I made a promise. Boy. You wasn't worried about that promise. You didn't care about that promise. A few weeks ago. You was not worried about that promise. Deep in the gut. That's. Promises. Crazy. Hello. I was. I was honestly though. I was just surprised that he told his wife about it. Like. I don't. He's a coward. I feel like he knew before. Before he told her. You're right. You're right. And once she became pregnant. Like. It pulled up on him. It was too real.

[00:19:23] Yeah. She's like. I'm trapped in it now. To like. You know. Have him tell her that. Like. Mm-hmm. That's some child. Golden boy. Like. No. No. Very much. You. Not you. Boo. You're not a white skinned man. But you know. Running around leaguers. You know who was a little better. His son. I thought Zuby was a. Yeah. He was a good boy. I like Zuby. They were sweet together. Zuby. And Nia bought him some transition lenses for his glasses. And he was like. So gagged.

[00:19:53] That's so cute. You guys are so precious and sweet. Outside of this curse and all that. Like. That is a sweet. That's a very sweet gesture. Yeah. When. When he was showing her the different animes. And they were watching anime together. I'm like. Wow. This is. And she was like. This is a very. It got me. Yeah. For their relationship. I just felt like. In Nia. Like. I don't know. I feel so bad for her. She was probably like. The person I felt. Because she was just stuck in this cycle. That like.

[00:20:22] She had no control of. Because she's the reincarnation of her. Dead. What? Aunt. Aunt. Cousin. Aunt. I think it was her aunt. Her auntie. Oh. I mean. So y'all do think she was a reincarnation. Right? Oh. I mean. She looks smack like her. And she had similar. And the birthmark was similar. It was just in a different spot. And then. All of the similarities throughout her life. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And she was a reincarnation. Zubi was crazy.

[00:20:52] And I got her saying. That was crazy. Like she was like. I thought I was in control of this this whole time. And it's like. No. Like. I wasn't. So we really can't be together anymore. So sorry. And I'm like. Maybe that. Zubi's like. Why? You know. Besides. She's like. Don't you see. That your mama just literally smacked the mess out of me. Right. Because she thought I was someone else. First of all. That woman coming back and being like. Mm-mm. You're not gonna haunt me. You're gonna let her ruin my life again. I said. There's no way. You actually think. That that is that woman.

[00:21:22] 20 years later. She did not take a moment to confirm it. Not at all. She didn't ask a single question. She came in and smacked the mess out of her. I was just like. So gagged by that. Can I. She didn't do that. I will say. I did love that about this book. I feel like when they committed to doing something wild. They followed through. They were. There were a few little smack downs. Because even when she went to go meet up with Golden Boy's mom at that. At that lunch. Didn't she smack her? The mom. The mom. The mom. The mom.

[00:21:52] I would think so. She was so mean. Something did. There was more than one slap in that book. She was the worst type of boy mom. I don't think she slapped her. But they definitely exchanged words. Something. And she was very rude. Or she spilled something on her. Or some. Like. It was something. I know what you're talking about. An incident. Yeah. There was. Because there was another slap in the book. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well it's when. Oh when the mama was meeting her. Mom was whooping her. Yeah. Yeah. So wrong. Because she was in. Because she was in Monique's room. Yeah. She was not going to stop. Oh yes.

[00:22:23] Yeah. I said not raining. How are you bothering this lady? She's in her room. She's in. Literally. Her room. She waking up. She closed her eyes. She see her auntie. She waking up. She smells the salt water. Leave that. Leave that lady alone. Leave that lady alone. Leave that lady alone. She smells the salt water. I was gagged. I was gagged when. Okay. They were talking about her. At the. At the. Ocean. She walked out. She fighting the curse in the wall. Salt water. Oh my gosh.

[00:22:52] The niece waking up smelling salt water. I said well if this ain't a reincarnation. I don't know what is. And then what is. What's even crazier about. This curse too. Thinking about it now. The fact that. The aunties. The grandma. And everybody who. Used to know Monique. Did not think of this as like. Oh my gosh. Okay. We have to do better. We have to somehow. They never took that as a sign. We have to somehow. Make this right with her. No. They looked at her. That girl. And they said.

[00:23:22] Girl you look just like your auntie. That's crazy. You are the reincarnation. That is crazy. She said my daughter. Has returned home to me. She said praise. They were lit. They were lit. They took that as a sign of like. Good faith. And that was it. That's crazy. Yeah. But I just feel like no one. Has been learning from this curse. I think that's. You're right. Like things are just perpetuated. What's the lesson? That you can't just keep doing.

[00:23:50] What everybody else did before. Yeah. De-center men. De-center men. You have to break generational curses. And you know what? De-center men. That's what I mean. Is the first one. That's actually the first one. Which is difficult in a culture. When it's like. That's. Yeah. That's a real focus. Even from the literature we've read. That is. A huge focus. Like you have a daughter. Oof. Got to get her married. Got to get her married. Yeah.

[00:24:20] Hello. So it's like. Yeah. That would be a. That's a hard lesson for them to learn. I don't know that many of them learned it. But it's. It's also good. Other than an EA. Yeah. She also leaving to go to the UK. To pursue another life insurance. She was like. I'm going to smash this new guy. Period. And then I'm going to dip. Yeah. I'm so sorry. And her admitting it. Sometimes you just have to. Right. What you just got to do sometimes Kayla.

[00:24:49] You just got to smash. And move to a different country. Start a new life. Right. You just got to smash and pass. She was like. It wasn't even that good. But I had to do it. She's like. I had to cleanse. I had to cleanse myself with you. Because. That is exactly. What she says. My heart is terrorizing us. And she will continue to terrorize us. And then Doobie was like. Was it good? Did you enjoy it? She's like. You need to focus. Because that's not the point. That's not the point. And that's why I said. You're not thinking. She's like. You're not thinking. It's not clocking to you.

[00:25:19] Because she could have taken a page and a half. To do a little aside about it. You know. That actually. That's how you don't wonder. That tickled me. I'm not going to lie. That tickled me. I did giggle. But the logic. I think death made. Because she was like. Well I'm 25. She died when she was 25. Yep. Why are you still around? I gotta go. She said. I gotta make something shake. I gotta make moves. Period. And she did. Come on next generation. You're right Kayla. Sometimes you do just have to smash. And pass.

[00:25:49] On to another country. Literally. Literally. And she broke the curse. Baby. Someone had to. And you know. I think Monique. Her sacrifice. Sacrifice. Somebody had to. Yeah. The actions that she did. I think that helped break the curse. The description towards the end of her. Wrestling the curse in the water. Yeah. Opening with the. With it starting. Yeah. And the mermaid. And what a mermaid is. And then it's. You know. Her. You know. Okay. The language about her. If she looked up.

[00:26:19] She would see. Her niece. Like in the air on the plane. Like headed to her. I love that. Yes. I'm like that is an excellent way to wrap this up. I like that. Yeah. It all came for certain. Very full circle. Yes. Yes. Yeah. That was really good. I will say. I kind of. I wanted some more mermaid. Esk vibes. Maybe. I don't know. I feel like. That would turn this into a fantasy. Yeah. This is real life. Oh well. This was real life. It was. Okay. And you know what. This brings me back to. One of the pillars of who I am. As a.

[00:26:50] Reader. Contemporary. Fiction. Is like not. Not your damn. Oh. But you know this about yourself. It's real. The tea though. And we know this about you. I know. But it's like. Contemporary fiction brings a mess. Sometimes. It does. Yes. You know what. And I'll give you that. I do love a good just like mess. Leave your mess at home. But this was such a soft mess. Give me another. It was a soft mess. I took like. It was. Wahala. Okay. Yeah.

[00:27:19] Wahala was a crazy mess. That was a crazy mess. That was. Okay. So I like the crazy. But I also feel like that was because it was in London. Like. It was like Nigerians in England. You know. They get kind of crazy when it's like that. And they did have money. Even the sunsets in Singapore. Even though that wasn't like our favorite book. There was. It was mess. Still. It was the time. There was still mess. But then. And even. Isn't where the wildflowers grow. Contemporary fiction. Yeah. That was contemporary. And there was. It's crazy. There was.

[00:27:49] So you know. So you know what. I think it depends. Let me say this. Let me say. Real quick. Once Summer in Savannah. Was a calm mess. But. Yeah. It had me. A little bit more engaged than Cursed Daughters. So. I'm not sure what. The scale is. Well I think Nisha said it. It was. In this book. Cursed Daughters. The mess was very calm. Like it was a very. It was very soft. Like it was underlying. It wasn't like the emphasis. Like it wasn't. Any of the other books that we.

[00:28:18] And like. Generational. Like dealing with generational trauma and stuff. Seemed like. The bigger. Message. Yeah. As opposed to like. Yeah. This is a messy book. Yeah. If that makes sense. But can I also say. I felt like it took a minute. For us to get to the mess. Because. It did. Because I was a little confused. Because I would refuse. We were confused. For a second. It starts with her. We were confused. Her funeral. And then literally. Ebun is in labor. Having this baby that looks just like her dead cousin. Like. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:28:48] And then you're like. No. Why is that? You got thrown in. Why is that? But you're still like. Wait what? We were. I was in the. We were thrown in. No. But not in a good way. We were all thrown in. Because Ebun kept saying. I don't know why this is happening. I have no clue why. Why she. She decided to be reincarnated in my own daughter. I have no. You said it's so weird. No idea why this is happening. The whole book. We even get Ebun's POV. And you're trying to figure out what happened between. Monifei dying. And then Inie being born.

[00:29:18] And you're still trying to piece it together. You're like. Hmm. Like. I just kept saying. I'm like. Something is missing here. Like. Something doesn't sound right. She was acting so damn clueless. She was. Which is awesome. Which I did. You know what happened. That voicemail. You were judgy. You weren't very helpful. To Monifei when she was. You know. Like just throughout her relationship with Golden Boy. And then. You guys go get matching portions. And you don't follow through and get yours. You don't follow. She should. And you're planning. She should be haunting you. She should be haunting you. And it was your plan. And you didn't say nothing.

[00:29:48] That's the curse we should have focused on. Monifei haunting you. Because. Yeah. You deserve that. You're terrible. You were terrible. I kind of wanted Ebun and Monifei to have some like. Dreamlike talk or something like that. That would have been nice. It felt like that was missing too. Like a resolution. Like did you want. Yeah. Tell her to say sorry. With them. Girl I'm sorry. I apologize. I was just a kid. Like I was just a kid. I was scared too. Like I was just trying to do what was right. Because you was the big cousin for real. Like she. Monifei was older. Yeah. But it's like.

[00:30:18] Girl when y'all got back to the house. Why didn't you just say. I'm not really sure about this either. Right. Yeah. Y'all did an at home abortion. Like what? That's true. You had time to back out. Correct. There was time. Yeah. There was a whole ride home. Take it. That's true. Girl she got the car ride. She found the contact. She got the money out. Like I just was like. This is a lot of planning for you to just say. That. And quietly say that. You know what? And as a ghost.

[00:30:47] I think that is a hauntable offense. That's what I'm saying. It is. For real. It's kind of what she deserved. Right. And then Ibu never said anything. Ibu never explained anything to Inie either. So she. Inie is the one. Oh my gosh. Facing her. Her. You know. Facing her the whole time. Mm-hmm. Like waking up to her. All this type of stuff. And you never said nothing. And then on top of all of that. She was keeping other secrets. Not telling anybody who the father was. Like he was some raggedy man. Girl. What is your problem?

[00:31:17] Right. What is her problem? Like now that I'm really thinking about it. What is her f***ing problem? Yeah. Because she was keeping a lot of secrets. For no. For no reason. She said. She threw Annie away. She also didn't tell. She also didn't tell her daughter about the curse. Either. For a while. Like. No she didn't want to. She said I don't want your head screwed up. With all of that mumbo jumbo. Yeah. You're looking at the reincarnation. Of the cousin you betrayed. You need to let her believe. In that mumbo jumbo. Because it's happening. You literally see it. Right now. That's funny.

[00:31:46] You're the main part of the problem. You're the main part of the problem. You're the main part of the problem. And there were several generations before you. But you're the. You're the main part of the problem. If anyone deserved that curse. It was probably for you. Hey. I just. And what's funny. I am really disgusted by her actions. Hmm. She arguably had the best outcome. She did. Because she ended up getting married. Yeah. That's why I'm like. Yeah. That's also true. I can't believe he forgave her too. Like. Literally. He loved her. Mom. Like.

[00:32:16] I thought he was genuinely dead. Yep. This entire time. Like. You never even told me anything that I would think differently about that. Like. You never even said he was dead. I just had to put that together myself. And she was like. Mm hmm. Well. I was trying to protect you. Like. Okay. From what? Having a father? A father? Like. Yes. Basically. Right. She was like. I. Oh. That's what she said. She was like. I didn't want. I didn't want you to experience that abandonment. And then have him leave. You didn't want to experience the abandonment. Right.

[00:32:46] I would have been fine. Yeah. And who's to say. Keeping a man includes a father. Right. Who's to say that he would have abandoned me? Hell. That's true. That was not a part of the curse all the time. And that's why he was like. You didn't even give him a chance. I never would have abandoned you. Right. Like. I wouldn't have done that. He was a responsible young lad. He was. But also wasn't Evelyn's father. Like. Her mom and her. Like. They escaped out of an abusive relationship. Like. That's why her mom's relationship with her dad didn't work out. Like. That's why they. The aunts. Like. The sisters moved in together.

[00:33:18] Maybe. You might be on the side. They may have. At some point. Yeah. They all lost their men. And they really didn't have. Mm hmm. A choice. Because. Was that the house that had like five, six rooms for all the daughters? Yes. Or was that one of the. Yeah. That's the compound. Mm hmm. So. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Their compound. He said. Because they always needed to be able to come back at some point. Mm hmm. Well this is fun. I think it's been a minute. Since I've read a book set in Nigeria. I don't. I haven't read many. Yeah. So this was fun.

[00:33:48] Different. It was. It was fun and different. Yeah. Another contemporary on my list. Right. Unbeknownst to me. It just keeps happening to me. It's fine. Everything's fine. It was good. It was good though. It was good. It is. It was fine. Yeah. And if you love contemporary, you would eat this up. That's the thing. Like. I feel like. Yeah. And I think this book was well received. It's good. I think I only saw like positive things.

[00:34:17] When people were talking about Cursed Daughters. That's true. I think it deserves positive accolades. Like. This was a good book. I just don't think Contempt Thick is like our main jam. And this one was a little different than the other ones that we've like loved in the past. But I do think this book deserves like accolades. I'll continue to recommend it actually. Because someone's gonna love it. Yeah. That's true. Did you guys. You guys read My Sister's a Serial Killer though, right?

[00:34:47] I have not. No. Not yet. I never read that either. I just got it on Libby. Let me tell you something. I'm like. You like that one though. Nish. Isn't that why you said this was really cool? Is that Thriller? That's Thriller though. No. See? I loved. I loved. My Sister's the Serial Killer. It was actually really. That was one of the first like black author thrillers I ever read. Right. Like back in the day. Back in the day. Wow. So. So. Oyinkan. Is that how you pronounce it? Oyinkan Braithwaite. Is that just the only two books she has out? I think so.

[00:35:17] I think so. Yeah. I thought she had another one. Maybe I'm tripping. Maybe a follow up to My Sister's the Serial Killer. Please hold. Yeah. It was good. It was very good. That's good. I remember just being like well this is kind of crazy. Now I will say. Was it crazier than this one? Oh yeah. I'm assuming because she's a serial killer. It was crazy because she really like was putting pieces together and she was like oh I think. Uh oh. That's so crazy. I think My Sister really is a serial killer. I just read another book. No.

[00:35:47] Like she really was like oh no. Like that. What am I going to do? I gotta find it because I just read another book. Oh okay. Where My Sister was a serial killer? The one time I. Wasn't that Honey? Like. Honey. It was. Or not. No. There's another one. Hold on. No it wasn't Honey. It's another one. And she's putting the pieces together and she was like oh my sister. The X's. The X's. It was the X's. The X's. There you go. And the X's. The X's. Where she was. Yeah.

[00:36:16] Where she found out that the sister was like killing her. Killing her. And she thought that she was doing it the whole time. And she thought that she was doing it the whole time. The wrong. Yeah. Yeah. She was crazy. She genuinely was. She was like I might be a murderer. She was like I'm having these blackouts. I can't really explain. Yeah. So those two. I'm not reading that. I was like um. What? Would be cousins. That was crazy. Okay. My sister's the serial killer and the X's. They would be cousins. Oh that's hot. Okay. The X's was like wilder though honestly. Okay. Who wrote. What's her name? LaDora. Leodora Darlington. Leodora.

[00:36:46] Leodora Darlington. That's such. Love that name. What a lovely name. Iconic. Yeah. Honey was crazy too. Honey was crazy in a British. By Imani Tumblr way. In a British way. Yeah. In a British way it was crazy. Well because when you read. I'm telling you we could do a whole episode on. Yeah. The differences between British. Yeah. The differences. Black British lit and yeah. Yeah. There's some differences. Mm-hmm.

[00:37:13] I need to do more research in Black British lit though. Real. I think genuinely. I don't think I've read enough to like. I have thoughts. But I do need to get more research. It's like we've recognized patterns. Do you think you need to read. Let's do some more market research. Right. I don't know. Like how many books do we think we need to have read by a Black British author before we can like. Collectively? Start. No. Individually. Mm-hmm. Individually I would say at least seven. I was gonna say ten. I'm in there. Yeah. Okay. Okay. No.

[00:37:43] I think we're in there Alex. I'm putting Talia Hibbert in there too. Period. Period. That's like five six books right there. She's not that like crazy. She's not like super Brit. She'd be doing silly stuff though. Yeah. I love it. Talia is a super Brit. No I mean like. She's always with. No no no. To me it's just not like. Like. Oh like the other. Like I wouldn't know that it was. It's always like Black woman. I wouldn't know. Something else. Yeah. But look. If we're gonna reach the saturation in this data.

[00:38:13] I gotta just take all the British authors I can. And I gotta put Talia in there. You're right here. I gotta just put Talia in there. So sorry. Yeah. Need you for the numbers. For the data. For the data. Yeah. See we make informed choices. And. Claims. Would you put like. Tyges. Tickis. She's Australian. I was like she's Australian. Australian. Yeah she's Australian. Down on the ball bay. Does she just like live in London?

[00:38:41] I didn't even know she lived in London. I thought she was in London this whole time. I thought that was like. I just learned something new. I thought she was in London too. Gotta do. Don't. Don't. No I thought you. Take my word on it. I thought so. The. Australian English accents. I can't always like. They're. Sometimes they're. They're sisters. I mean. They're sisters. They were. They were sisters. Just a matter of a ship. You know. Right. Right. Oof.

[00:39:13] If someone asked you. If you want to get on the ship. Don't do it. No please. The answer should always be no. For multiple reasons. All right. Say no to ships. So what did you guys give this book? Out of five. I was actually hoping you wouldn't answer. Oh. Quatro. Ask. Oh. I only saw three of your fingers. Oh. That's crazy. I thought we're going to say it all together. That's fair. Okay. Yeah. We can. Well. No. Well now there's no point. Now it's too late. We already know.

[00:39:42] So Alex give it a four. I would give it a four. Say it. Say what you really want. A 3.75. Say what you really want. That's what I would give it to you. Yeah. Yeah. A 3.75. Probably because like contemporary fiction is not your jam. It's just not my. That's the thing though. Like I feel like if I loved contemporary fiction I probably would have been eating this up. Because again the chapters were short. Like I think it was just sometimes for me the information that we were garnering. Like.

[00:40:12] Ooh. Big word for Elmo. I know. It's a big word for Elmo. The information that we were garnering from each of them was just like not enough if that makes sense. Like. No. Understood. I feel like you was breadcrumbing me too much. We. It did. Way. The first half. I was like well hold on. Way too much. And I don't want way too much. Way too much. And I need a little bit more. And then we got it. I felt like a lot was revealed in that last hour. Yeah. I agree. Yeah. It was everything actually. And it was really annoying. You know what? I might bump this up to a 4. I like the 4 because it was like.

[00:40:42] That was me getting slapped each chapter. Oh. Oh. I like how. Couldn't see. Kayla was getting slapped around. I just didn't know. She was going boom boom bam bam from side to side. I. I think I would bump this up to a 4 because I enjoyed talking about it. Yes. And I knew that I wanted to talk about it. I actually enjoyed discussing it more than I enjoyed reading it. So I'm going to give it that extra 0.25 stars and bump this up to a 4 because I loved the discussion. This was us. Okay. And that's fair.

[00:41:12] Because again. The matching abortion comment. With everyone's rating scales. That was the biggest point for me. That was. Honestly we might be laughing about that for months. Yeah. Matching abortions. You didn't go get yours? Like what? Loyalty is bad. What? You deserve to get haunted. That is not for a baby. She came out of the room after days. She literally bore the child on the toilet. Had to figure that out on her own. Days later she walks out of her room.

[00:41:42] Her cousin opens the door as well. And she sees her big old belly. And she's like. She said she looked a little heavy. Like. All that weight's in her middle. She said hold up. Why are you still getting bigger? Like I knew you was a little further along than that. She said this is not your baby. I'm the baby. That scream. I'm taking it. She said I'm the baby. That scream sent out what was the summoning for her to be reincarnated. Correct. That's really what did it. Yes.

[00:42:13] It reached the spirit. And at that point she had unfinished business. She did. Absolutely. She was still here. Absolutely. She already had unfinished business. She was still there and had unfinished business. Yeah. Yeah. So. Yeah. That's why I'll give this a four. Because I think this is actually one of my favorite discussions with y'all in a while. Really gagged me. That's true. For the amount of gag that I was. Yeah. That's why I said four. Because there were moments when he. When I found out that he had gotten them pregnant at the same time. I literally paused. That was crazy. And like was cursing.

[00:42:42] That was crazy. Out loud. Yeah. You. Me. Yo. I said that mother. I will say. Like. A low down dirty dog. Just. Very dirty. You got two women. You got two women pregnant at the same time. That's crazy. Yeah. And one of them is your wife. You bastard. I just. Oh. So. Yeah. I can't stand a mother.

[00:43:10] Who don't respect the institution of marriage. Oh. But they want to use it as an excuse for everything. Correct. That's what it pissed me off. We can't be together anymore. I made a promise. You didn't give a dick up about that promise. You didn't give a f*** about it. And then it. Okay. And then literally having the whole affair raw. You. You. You. Nasty. You claimed her for her getting pregnant. Nasty. I thought you was going to do something about it. That. I thought you had backup. You can tell me to put on a condom.

[00:43:40] Hello. Someone got to tell you to put on a condom? Someone got to tell you? Going on the list. He goes on the list for sure. Actually. Actually. Yes. Golden Boy is on the list. Actually. Yes. Golden Boy on the list. Actually. Yes. Actually. Yes. You're done. To the A. Can I. Hall of Fame. Before we got. Before we started recording. We were just like. There's only a few light skin Nigerians. Tearing up Legos. I knew it. Jadena. I knew it. That's his name.

[00:44:10] Jadena. I was sitting here like light skin music. Freckles. Listen. Nigerian? He always wore a suit. Jadena. He permed. It was definitely. Come on. I'm so glad we got permed. Did he permed? I guess when he permed his hair. He did. He had a conk. He had that little part. He was trying to wear the pompadour with it. He had the part in the. So actually. Golden Boy and Jadena. I pictured them as the same people in the book. Oh my God. There you have it. Running around Legos. Terrorizing the city. So when I saw Zubi. I said I know exactly who you are. Yup.

[00:44:39] You your daddy's son. No but Zubi was sweet. Zubi was a little sweeter. I won't. He was. Zubi was sweeter. Yes. So he doesn't. Yeah. That's actually. The only good thing Kalou did was raise that boy. Was raise him. Right. Oh my God. There's one sweet thing he did for her that I was just. That I feel like I forgot. Who Kalou? No. Zubi. When Zubi and Anihe were being sweet together. Because I was zero. Oh no. Because. So Anihe and Zubi met because she saved him from drowning. I thought that was crazy.

[00:45:08] A creepy little life. Oh that was. Yeah. Her auntie said I'm going to drown his son. Yes. I was about to say. You know what? There you have it. She said I got him. Got in that water. And she said oh I'm taking. She said oh I'm going to boy. Because that was Amara's second baby. That was the baby they had at the same time. Correct. Yep. Correct. That's crazy. That's crazy. So many references to water here. Yeah. Water can be cleansing.

[00:45:38] It can be restorative. It can also be dangerous. It can swallow. Scary. There's so much symbolism. So much. Come on AP Lit. Come on AP Lit. Oh my gosh. Wow. Hold on. Okay. I know you don't care for contemporary fiction but we might have to read another one. Maybe we find a different one. This is how we get here. We got to read the contemporary fiction and get the mess. I wish you guys could see Demisha's face right now.

[00:46:09] Wait. Possibly one more. She is not convinced. Okay. Here. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. I want for a contemporary. Okay. Okay. There needs to be just like in romance. There's a spice level. I need a mess level and I need people to understand that I need them to take it there. Turn it up. Because the thing is. Yeah. Contemporary is just like real life. Yeah. I can just look around.

[00:46:38] I'm living real life. I don't need that. Girl. You don't need this. Right. Like. Oh you're standing up against your aunties and becoming your own woman. Yeah. Okay. We all are doing that. Did that already. Next. We're all doing that. We're all doing that. So. I need. I need. Oh my gosh. I need more. I need. Like.

[00:47:08] Stuff to happen in the book. That I wouldn't want to happen in my life. I like that. That's fair news. I like that. That's fair. We need the affairs. That you wouldn't want to happen. We need the. What is the emoji for. We need like. Spice is a pepper. What would be the emoji. For a mess scale. The one with the eyes where the mouth is like this. And they're like. That would be the emoji for me. Okay. For the mess. Because it's always like. Oh. Okay. But. I would put the exploding head. Okay. Emoji. As like. Okay. The very end.

[00:47:38] Like you're going to be sitting there like. Whoa. Whoa. Didn't say that one. Is there a janitoring eyes? But the whole book you're going to be like. Huh. I don't think of that as like for a thriller. No. No. I can feel. I mean I think. But I was just trying to figure some stuff out in this book. I was really thinking. So maybe the thinking emoji. Okay. Thinking emoji is like the least. Okay. You just have to put a little thought in. Thinking emoji is the least. Yeah. So that's like what? Equivalent to like a. I don't know. Like a one. One-ish. Okay. Middle. We're thinking.

[00:48:08] Hmm. Is there a janitor emoji? Janitor? A mop? Cleaning up mess? Yes. I feel like that would be the middle. Like it's a mess. Yeah. What if we just put the tea emoji? Is there a little caution sign? The little tea emoji. The little cup. Oh. Oh yeah. The tea. Okay. I like this regular tea. Yeah. That's good. So we got thinking. We got cup in the middle. And then the five. The biggest mess. You know what? It might have to be that one emoji. You're right. Where it's like. Kind of. Yeah. Because like. Oh.

[00:48:40] Or like the little like sweating one. I use that all the time. Oh. The sweating. Yeah. Yeah. The stress. That might be a stress one. That's just. Actually. I kind of like that. Okay. Yeah. I think I like that one too. Girl. That's what we need. That's what we need. So. Because for me. Wahala is always a five. Like. That's like. Mess. Yeah. Like that's. That's what I use for contemporary fiction. But it like led to like. Murder and like. I don't know. Whenever it takes it there. And people are on a balcony. And you're like. Who's going over?

[00:49:10] Because someone has to. Like. That is the boiling point. This is the boiling point. Someone's dying. Someone has to. We just gotta decide who. Right. When it's like a fight at the end of the book. Or something like that. I'm like. Yeah. That's crazy. You're right. So that would be our five for sure. Yeah. Okay. That's. Just always gonna be a five. I don't remember what other. I have. Y'all know. I don't ever remember much. We're not gonna go through all of them. All the books again. I wasn't going to.

[00:49:38] But I'm trying to get like a meter here. So if we're saying. Wahala is like. Mess. Mess. If Wahala is a five. Then I think like. This is in the middle. This is the middle. So Kirsten is like in the middle. And I would put like the sunsets in Singapore. At the end. At like the end. Like on the lower end of the mess. And that's real. Okay. Scale. Yeah. Okay. Because it was messy. So boom. There you have it. Wow. Y'all see how we did that with the data that we collected already over the years? Correct. That's how you analyze folks.

[00:50:09] Can't do that without critical thinking. Interacting with literature for the day. The literary crisis is a pretty much. Woo. Yes. You're marked safe today. Nice. Marked safe from literary crisis. Another day of fighting off a smooth brain. One more day. You know what's hard? But these apps. The clock app. The Instagram. The Twitter. The threads. Lord. Fighting for our brain cells. One at a time.

[00:50:39] Ugh. Yeah. Yeah. Well this was fun. I'm like wow. You know. If you're into that. Should we do this again? You stick with us. Okay. If you want to fight the literary. Literacy crisis. Yeah. Join us. Join us in our fight. Join us. Join us to combat. Like us. Join us. Leave a little comment. Tell us what you're doing to fight off a smooth brain today. Yeah. Love y'all. Mean it. See you next time. Bye. Bye. Bye.