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Selected by Edwidge Danticat as the winner of the inaugural Kimbilio National Fiction Prize, Malawi’s Sisters is about the murder of a young black woman by a white man, and was inspired by the 2013 shooting of Renisha McBride.
Excerpt:
“Malcolm looked at the blinds covering the window. He knew what was downstairs. The word “downstairs” was better than the word “basement,” which was where most hospitals housed the morgue. He and Bet were here now to identify their baby girl, not to console her and pay the hospital bill, though that would come later in the mail. Malcolm wasn’t sure his daughter had health insurance. He should know these things. As her father, he should know whether or not his
daughter had health insurance.
“Why don’t you take a moment and sit down,” said Dr. Kosi, extending his arm to the chairs behind them.
Malcolm gripped Bet by the shoulders, almost dragging her to a standing position. He thought the words, let’s sit, but nothing came out of his mouth. He tried to take a step but his feet were weighted with invisible blocks and his knees began to shake. He almost dropped Bet in an effort to grab the desk to stop himself from falling. “Please, Bet,” he said, feebly. This was not the judge’s voice. It was the voice of a tiny man afraid of having to identify his daughter’s body.”
Praise for Malawi’s Sisters:
“This story is both timely and well executed. We rarely see the private side of the devastating aftermath of police/vigilante/help-seeking and shot-related deaths that this writer describes here in such a suspenseful and nuanced manner. This is the kind of book that might encourage and inspire in depth conversations and discussions and help readers think more deeply about a subject they might have mistakenly thought they knew all about.” Edwidge Danticat, 2007 finalist for the National Book Award and a 2008 winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography
Hatter “weave[s] the events of the story with the characters’ pasts, unveiling their motivations, and encouraging readers to regard them with compassion, all while attempting to capture the energy of a larger social moment.” Kirkus Reviews
“Melanie Hatter gives readers a powerfully moving account of how a family falls apart and journeys to healing in the aftermath of a senseless act of murder. This tender and honest portrayal captures the temperature of our troubled times, as well as the complexities of race, racism, loyalty, love and how for Black families Black lives always matter.” Marita Golden, master teacher and author of more than a dozen novels including The Wide Circumference of Love
“Melanie Hatter’s novel begins in the wounds of today’s headlines. Across the United States too many lives have been shattered by gun violence. Malawi’s Sisters examines the aftermath of how the tragic death of Malawi Walker affects the members of her family. Hatter’s novel is told from multiple perspectives. The reader becomes a witness
to sadness and sorrow. One life changes many. Malawi’s sisters are our sisters. Hatter’s novel measures the pulse of one family’s attempt to continue loving in a world too easy to hate.” E. Ethelbert Miller, Literary Activist and Host of On The Margin (WPFW 89.3 FM)
“Whether random or at the hands of authorities or of vigilantes, daily, black men and women become victims of the epidemic of gun violence sweeping the United States. Malawi’s Sisters considers the consequences on those left behind.” Kimbilio Founder David Haynes
