Fairytales for Lost Children by Diriye Osman
Growing up in Somalia and suffering from religious oppression, the author bravely tells to the stories of people he knows.
The author knew that he loved boys by age 6. The experiences portrayed in fiction mirror those told in non-fiction in ‘Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East’ by Brian Whitaker
Both books are insightful clarion calls for acceptance and compassion with differences.
I especially liked “Tell the Sun not to Shine”, where a Muslim recognises the imam at Peckham Mosque who was his lover years earlier in Nairobi.
Particularly vivid is the story with the lesbian turned psychotic, having internalised all the insults and harassment she had suffered. This portrayal of the author’s fractured self was particularly moving.
Quotations
“We became two strangers bound by blood and bad history.”
“I’ve always loved being gay. Sure, Kenya was not exactly Queer Nation but my sexuality gave me joy. I was young, not so dumb and full of cum!
There was no place for me in Heaven but I was content munching devil’s pie here on earth”
‘Your silence will not protect you’
“We may not have the power to choose the family we’re born into, but we can certainly choose the family we choose to make our own”
Lay Reader's Book Reviews 
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