Book Review: The Girl Who Married a Lion by Alexander McCall Smith

Title: The Girl Who Married a Lion- And Other Tales from Africa

Author: Alexander McCall Smith

Genre: Short Stories/Folklore

Number of Pages: 208

Rating: B+

Recommended?: Yes

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I’ll keep this review short and concise because I don’t have that much to say about this book. Consider it a mini-review. The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa is a collection of African folktales with moral lessons. Think Aesop’s Fables in a way with a distinct African flavor.

In this collection anthropomorphic animals engage in petty squabbles, girls are tricked by cannibals, and barren women adopt highly intelligent birds who get the last laugh. I definitely liked this better than Dream Angus.

I really liked reading about Greek Mythology when I was a kid and I like to read stories from different cultures to see how they’re similar and how they’re different. There’s a lot of interesting cross-overs when it comes to folktales and mythology.

Some of the stories ran together for me but I enjoyed them overall. I got it from the adult section of the library but I think teenagers and even kids would probably enjoy these stories too. They’re simple but fun and give you an interesting look into another culture.