The title of My Inspirational Memoir & Thoughts is a bit misleading. While parts of the book are, indeed, inspiring, this volume is clearly not a memoir.
Masondo writes 273 numbered passages over five chapters. These snippets range from a single sentence to a medium-long paragraph, with a few short verses in the mix as well. These have no narrative structure and tell no story; they’re random observations about the church (Masondo appears to be a born-again Christian), relationships, and life in general. She allows that she’s estranged from her parents and was “in the wilderness for forty-two years” before presumably being saved, but nothing is clearly explained.
Some passages indicate a dark past (“113. Without God in your life, you’re a walking corpse. Believe me. I know what I’m talking about”), but again, we’re left to guess at why her life has been so dark. It seems as if Masondo very much wants to tell her story, but is perhaps not ready yet, hewing instead to affirmations and aphorisms.
The good news is that at its best, her writing is clear and succinct. There are grammatical errors, but nothing a copyeditor couldn’t buff out. She veers into testimonial shouting on occasion (e.g., “[Y]ou’re God’s best creation! And you deserve to be treated as such!”) but plainly has the ability to get her point across without it.
My Inspirational Memoir & Thoughts doesn’t hold together well, but here’s hoping Masondo cultivates her evident talent and eventually shares her fuller story with us.
Also available in hardcover and ebook.
