Call and Response

Stories

By: Gothataone Moeng

Narrated by: Warona Setshwaelo

Richly drawn stories about the lives of ordinary families in contemporary Botswana as they navigate relationships, tradition and caretaking in a rapidly changing world.

A young widow adheres to the expectations of wearing mourning clothes for nearly a year, though she's unsure what the traditions mean or whether she is ready to meet the world without their protection. An older sister returns home from a confusing time in America, only to explain at every turn why she’s left the land of opportunity. A younger sister hides her sexual exploits from her family, while her older brother openly flaunts his infidelity.

The stories collected in Call and Response are strongly anchored in place—in the village of Serowe, where the author is from, and in Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana—charting the emotional journeys of women seeking love and opportunity beyond the barriers of custom and circumstance.

Gothataone Moeng is part of a new generation of writers coming out of Africa whose voices are ready to explode onto the literary scene. In the tradition of writers like Chimamanda Adiche and Jhumpa Lahiri, she offers us insight into communities, experiences and landscapes through stories that are cinematic in their sweep, with unforgettable female protagonists.

©2023 Gothataone Moeng (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"In a debut collection set in Botswana, a young widow, reluctant to discard her mourning clothes, expresses wonder at the outside world that continues despite her husband’s death a year prior. In another, a university student discovers her brother's affair, shattering her perception of him and their adopted city. But all these stories reveal how women, family, and community intersect—each written with compassion and a deft hand."—Oprah Daily

"A good short story is a bit of alchemy, showing us so much in so few pages. Gothataone Moeng’s debut collection does this over and over, each story surprising with its music, its warmth, its command of language. Moeng writes of contemporary Africa, and if the settings and customs feel unfamiliar to Western readers, there’s something universal and true in these tales that grapple with family, faith, and how we make our way in the world."—Rumaan Alam, New York Times bestselling author of Leave The World Behind

“In Gothataone Moeng’s precise, delightfully detailed collection, Call and Response: Stories, we witness the challenges women of all ages face in a modernizing postcolonial Botswana where elements from the old life still remain…Though the stories are unlinked, all of these women and their separate complexities feel intricately connected…Bolstered by her stirring prose, Moeng’s stories pulsate with life and accumulate to build a full, rich world.”—The New York Times