DANILA BOTHA

 

"In A Place For People Like Us, Danila Botha brings her characters to life with verve and compassion. Desperate to redefine herself and break from a traumatic past and troubled family, Hannah confronts life-changing decisions in which romantic, religious, moral and material desires clash and intersect. In prose that is bold, warm and fearless, Botha interleaves her insights with a twisty plot that keeps us on the edge of our seats right until the end."

Catherine Bush, author of Skin and Blaze Island

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"As she prepares to convert to Judaism, Hannah, our protagonist, is so enthralled by Jillian that she ignores this early warning: “She’s the sexiest, most charming person ever, until she decides to fuck up your life.” But how could Hannah –or anyone else, really—resist this “arresting presence, like a tornado quietly building”? The link between these contrasting, complex women grows in intensity and depth as Hannah embarks on a life-changing journey that ultimately reveals the true essence of everyone around her, strips family secrets bare, and forces her to come to terms with both reality and her own self. In these more-righteous-than-thou times that we currently live in, this novel is not only important: it is necessary. John Steinbeck believed that most of our vices are nothing more than “attempted short cuts to love”, and A Place for People Like Us is Danila Botha’s poignant, razor-sharp, and courageous exploration of the lengths that some people are willing to go to satisfy their fundamental  need for acceptance."

Martha Batiz, author of No Stars in the Sky and A Daughter's Place

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"With this fascinating glimpse into Toronto’s Orthodox Jewish Community, Danila Botha tells the story of Hannah, a woman caught between her boyfriend’s world of tradition and security, and her girlfriend’s wild nonconformity. A gripping tale about love, belonging and betrayal. " 

​Elyse Friedman, award winning author of The Opportunist

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"Like all novels that linger in the heart and mind long after they are read, A Place for People Like Us is a journey. With honesty, nuance, and empathy, Botha shares profound insights into the complexities and complications of identity, belonging, and relationships, perhaps most importantly the one we have with ourselves." 

​Anita Kushwaha, author of the Secret Lives of Mothers and Daughters

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“With her new novel, A Place for People Like Us, Danila Botha demonstrates her mastery in creating imperfect protagonists. While Hannah’s quest for self actualization and meaning acts as the books narrative anchor, each member of the supporting cast comes with a strong individual voice story and demand for attention.…Botha high­lights that the process of self-dis­cov­ery isn’t linear... A Place for People Like Us challenges readers to consider what it is to construct and reconstruct the self in a web of intricate interpersonal and societal relationships. Botha’s gift is in creating characters with whom the reader can empathize, and making them question which version of which character is the one who most deserves their support. Ultimately, A Place For People Like Us will hold up a mirror to the ways in which readers find their own place in the world.”

​Deborah Miller, Jewish Book Council 

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“A young woman is molded by a charismatic friend and new lover in the fraught coming of age novel A Place For People Like Us. Hannah is determined to succeed at her prestigious business school despite her lack of money and connections…she is underprepared for her feelings for her seductive rocker roommate Jillian who wakes up some of her vices. Being with Jillian, Hannah observes is like “having a close, personal relationship with the sun”…she is also thrown by Naftali, the Orthodox Jewish classmate that she… bonds with…the depth and authenticity of Hannah’s bonds with Naftali and Jillian is called into question by her unspoken doubts and by the revelation of lies…though Hannah’s refusal to self advocate is a point of frustration for much of her story, it also makes her ultimate shedding of other’s expectations triumphant. A woman too often enrobed in other’s worldviews comes into her own in this weighty Bildungsroman."

Michelle Schingler, Foreword Reviews

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“The brand new novel from acclaimed author Danila Botha, aptly titled A Place for People Like Us is a bold and deeply moving exploration of friendship, trust and the thin line between truth and illusion… Botha captures the intensity of their connection and the ache of betrayal with emotional true clarity and compassion. Set against a backdrop that examines faith, identity and belonging, A Place for People like Us moves fluidly between personal drama and larger questions of community and control…. Botha’s writing is striking in its empathy and nuance, allowing readers to inhabit the shifting emotional landscapes of her characters. Each page feels alive with tension and tenderness as Botha unpacks what it means to seek meaning, love and acceptance in an uncertain world. With This new work, Botha confirms her place as one of Canada’s most perceptive and emotionally intelligent story tellers. A Place For People Like us is both a page turner and a meditation on the cost of closeness…poignant, insightful and unforgettable, this is a story that lingers long after the final page, and reminds readers that the search for belonging is dangerous as it is essential. “

Open Book 

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"The attraction between Hannah and Jillian, the main characters in Danila Botha’s new novel, “A Place for People Like Us” (Guernica Editions), is instantaneous. Jillian lives in the penthouse suite of a rental building that her parents own, a sumptuous arrangement that allows her to pursue her passions in the band Dissolve Into the Sky, whose performances infatuate Hannah further.

“When Jillian performed,” Hannah says, “she was an arresting presence, like a tornado quietly building. The audience would sit, glued to her every movement, watching a piece of her wavy black hair come unpinned as she tossed her head back, or transfixed as she read from or tore up a set list.”

Hannah begins filming and editing promotional videos for the band, and the women’s exact relationship begins to blur between romance, friendship and convenient business arrangement. I never knew quite what we were,” Hannah ponders. “If we were friends or lovers, or artists in a situationship, or just each other’s biggest support systems, but the future felt more real and more exciting than I’d let myself even dream about before.” After Jillian almost ends their lives in a car accident, Hannah entertains the advances of an Israeli man named Naftali. When he suggests that Hannah explore religious conversion to Judaism so that they can be together, it is only a matter of time before she asks herself whether sacrificing her past for an uncertain future is the only real way to move forward with her life." 

Jean Marc Ah-Sen, The Toronto Star 

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"Danila Botha lovingly draws a complex and often contradictory portrait of Hannah— as she sees herself: bland and unremarkable; and as others see her: smart, talented and beautiful....Intimate, fast-paced, and full of complex, sympathetic, flawed, not-who-they-seem-to-be characters, A Place for People Like Us catapults the reader from a hip downtown world to a north Toronto Orthodox enclave... Both a love letter to Judaism and a warning about the cult-like trappings that all forms of insularity can take, the novel moves towards an unexpected and shocking ending."

Aviva Rubin, The Seaboard Review of Books

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"A Place For People Like Us is replete with mental health issues, physical, illness, cruelty, family problems, drama, secrets and duplicity. We witness sadness, joy, love friendship, anxiety, hope, and despondency. Life affirming motherhood. Rarely do novels run the entire gamut of full human emotion and experience but Danila Botha has infused the plot of her excellent work with all that and more. Not always an easy read but a page turner to be certain, one that continually intrigues and comes highly recommended”

Jerry Levy, Ottawa Review of Books 

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"A Place for People Like Us is a fresh, captivating story about friendship, love, identity, and at its core, the complexities of faith. The relatable and emotionally rich dialogue steer the unflinching narrative, rendering characters that throb with life. Drawn by their shared longing for acceptance, Hannah and Jillian connect with an intensity that forces them to confront the gap between their fake and real selves. At the end, you'll be holding your breath. A remarkable book from a talented writer." 

Shelly Sanders, bestselling author of The Night Sparrow 

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"I have long been a fan of Botha's short fiction. She has the ability to create the most beautiful and tightly woven stories that leave visceral impressions long after you read them, so I was incredibly excited to review A Place For People Like Us...Botha’s characters are so real and so familiar and they leap from the page as people you feel you know...Her prose is so sharp and evocative, hitting us on a deep emotional level in one moment, then switching to wry humour in the next in a perfect balance. A Place For People Like Us is a beautifully told story of friendship and betrayal, of chosen family, the search for identity, and the search for love. And in Danila Botha’s more than capable hands, it absolutely soars."

Elizabeth Obermayer

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"A Place for People Like Us is compulsive and addictive reading. Powerful, passionate, incredibly insightful and sensitive, this is, in my opinion, Danila Botha’s best work to date. As always, she celebrates all the nuances and delights of Toronto, from dingy dive bars to marbled reception halls, sweeping staircases and the height of hallowed luxury. Kudos to Botha’s deft handling of religion. From shady, off-the-grid cult leaders to illuminating insights about Orthodox Judaism, Botha maps the terrain in ways both fascinating and informative, never shying away from exploring the darker undertones of troubled compulsions and the inescapable consequential damage caused.
And there are the relationships. Poignant, multifaceted, likable and relatable, Jillian, Naftali and Hannah will live in your heart long after you’ve read the final page. Botha’s characterization is flawless with each character in the book, from bit players to protagonists and antagonists.. The writing is lush, rich, and textured... The book is a sensual read in so many ways, and it’s also funny. You’ll find yourself chuckling at Hannah’s observations and she doesn’t miss a detail. This book will tug at your heart and leave you pondering the many aspects it explored." 

Lisa de Nikolits, author of Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon

 

"As she did in her in her acclaimed short story collection, Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness, Botha once again explores the nuances of Jewish identity in her new novel A Place for People like Us. At its core lies the complex relationship between Jillian, a reckless wild child intent on mocking the status quo and the protagonist Hannah—who revels in her friend’s defiant, bad-girl energy even as she secretly yearns for a sense of belonging...The old keep-’em-guessing game keeps Hannah hooked—for a while. But when she meets and falls in love with Naftali, a nice, Jewish boy who clearly adores her, she finds herself torn between chaos and the traditional, old-fashioned world of community Jillian scorns...To be with Naftali means embracing Orthodox Judaism, a strict observance that initially seems at odds with Hannah’s independent nature. Yet, as the story unfolds, the very rituals that once felt restrictive begin to offer an unexpected comfort—roots, order and a long elusive sense of belonging. Jillian, unsettled by the shift and sensing her influence slip away, bristles at what she sees as the subjugation of women....No spoilers—so I won’t reveal any clues to what Hannah eventually chooses. But I can say the novel kept me guessing with plot twists I didn’t see until the very end. In Botha’s capable hands, A Place for People like Us is a beautifully crafted story of the roads we take—and sometimes reluctantly abandon—in our search for love, identity and a place to call our own." 

Diane Bracuk, author of Middle Aged Girls and Boys

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​"A Place for People Like Us by Danila Botha is a layered narrative about identity and how much each of us is willing to surrender in order to belong. When we first meet Hannah, she is on the fringes of a peer group, but after befriending Jillian, finds herself swept into a consuming and intimate relationship that gives her confidence and feeds her creativity. Later, when she meets and falls in love with the Orthodox Naftali, she explores her Judaic roots and finds deep meaning in many aspects of Judaism. Her newfound faith also provides unexpected healing from childhood trauma in addition to a sense of belonging. Not everything is as it appears, however, and when Jillian begins to unravel, Hannah questions her own life choices. A sensitive and moving exploration written with an assured and fresh voice. Recommended." 

Lucy EM Black, author of A Quilting of Scars 

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"We humans: what an endless braid of tender, joyful, painful, loving emotional pas de deux we live. In these stories, Danila Botha examines the complex knotting and unknotting of  these contemporary relationships with vivid insight, deep compassion, and unflinching incision. They are virtuoso variations about what makes us human, what makes us—and our stories—irresistible, moving and compelling.

​Gary Barwin, award winning author of Yiddish for Pirates and Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted

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"This book is pure, raw power. Like Botha’s other work, the stories in Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness push against every boundary, offering unsettling glimpses into the wars women wage on their bodies, the messiness of finding and losing love, the self-sabotaging patterns that both propel and hold back. Botha is a master of balance, offering switchbacks between the pristine beauty of actual happiness paired with deep, unapologetic rage rooted in larger contexts like the patriarchy and historical genocides. Each story feels so real—the clear and authentic character voices often hold the power to reveal the exact essence of a character, sometimes in a single sentence. Though these stories capture a wide range of geographies and experiences, they always reflect on important, universal questions—where are the boundaries of forgiveness? Where is the line between two much and not enough?" ​

Leesa Dean, author of Waiting for the Cyclone and Filling Station

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"This sparkling collection documents the inner lives of girls and women with vivid emotion and delicious attitude. Botha's brilliant stories demand to be chewed on, mulled over, and talked about. Casting off the expectations of traditional style, they offer readers the comfort of generational wisdom and a clear-eyed view of our tumultuous present."

​Carleigh Baker, author of Bad Endings, Last Woman and Platformer

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"Powerful and searing glimpses into people’s most intimate emotions. Danila Botha’s writing makes the reader stop cold, sit up and listen. She expertly finds deceptively quiet moments in her characters’ lives, that by the end of her stories, reveal themselves to be more pivotal than we first realized. The characters in this collection will stay with me for a long time. An exquisite book." 

​Sidura Ludwig, author of the Vine award winning collection You Are Not What We Expected 

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"In these deft short stories, Danila Botha explores the desires of a cast of young, urban artists driven to escape their circumstances, from trendy Shakshuka bars to reality matchmaking shows to the horrors of the Holocaust. With fine prose and tender insight, Botha has written an indelible collection." 

 Kathy Friedman, author of All the Shining People 

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"A great short story gives us 10,000 words worth of material with only 1000 on the page and the other 9000 left unspoken. Danila Botha's superpower is to do just that, to create stories that carry the weight of years, of the full spectrum of emotions, of hopes and dreams, in compact yet pleasing prose.
The stories in this collection lure us in then challenge us, giving us an unfiltered look into the darkest sides of the human condition, which ultimately means the darkest sides of ourselves. The stories cover a wide range of topics, some with the horrors of the Holocaust prominent in the rearview of the characters' lives, some in the era of #MeToo and others focused on love, love lost and the act of creation. It's a heavy collection that gives and takes, offering joy and sadness and conjuring the rare magic of truly great, rich prose. Botha's ability to convey complex emotions in the gray areas of our lives is stunning. She's a remarkable talent destined to be recognized in the upper echelon of Canadian Fiction. I can, regardless of how consciously or unconsciously, see her influence manifesting itself in my own work. Lovers of the short story cannot go wrong with this collection. Botha's skill is plain for all to see. She is not just a writer's writer, but a reader's writer as well. 

Incredibly deep and powerful... [the stories] feel like John Cheever’s “Reunion,” using what’s said and what’s not said to give us a novel’s worth of story.... It’s a brilliant display of technical skill and a satisfying read, and [it] greatly impresses me." 

JJ Dupuis, author of the Creature X Mystery series

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"Toronto writer Botha crafts stories about love and yearning. Her two previous short-story collections and one novel (a second is coming out in 2025) have been shortlisted for numerous awards, and the stories in this collection [Things that Cause Inappropriate Happiness] have been published in journals and magazines around the world. Perhaps that speaks to the universality of her observations, as in this particular collection, of those trying to find their place

in the world." 

Deborah Dundas, The Toronto Star 

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“In Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness, Danila Botha writes with wit, grit and a sort of fictional, nonconformity, that resists easy labels. Across this generous collection, she unpacks a range of themes from alienation, identity, intergenerational trauma, and a sense of displacement delivered through historical fiction, magic, and raw realism… that specific tone, the gift of being able to talk about existential and historical disasters with an absurdist comic flair is one of the collection’s greatest strengths.… Memory and trauma are essential to the other stories in the collection as well… Botha masterfully creates a strong generational, cultural frame, pointing out her cultural self-awareness.… Although other stories break the mould of traditional plot structure…this never happens at the cost of engagement, and they remain emotionally, gripping throughout… Reading this collection is like listening to a cassette from the 90s. Side A leans more towards the entanglement with Jewish heritage. It’s ghosts it’s humour and it’s pain. Side B means more towards present day, emotional depth, and realism. Bullying this empowered, mothers, toxic school, cohorts, fake friends and the sharp edges of adult relationships feel like a single soul transmigrating across stories always evolving, but holding tight to their core… Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness is a book full of visceral and filtered emotions and in today’s world that feels like a breath of fresh air.”

Michela Politi, Swamp Pink 

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"This latest short story collection by Canadian writer Danila Botha celebrates the joys of creativity and authenticity, and the messiness of Jewish identity…over the course of one hundred years, [it] bring [s]us on an odyssey full of sweeping ideas captured in compact prose…Readers will be fully immersed in the diverse range of Botha’s settings and Jewish millennial readers— particularly from Toronto— will recognize the characters voices in the people they’ve known all their lives. Like stories shared at a family reunion, Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness is something to be savoured and revisited for years on end” 

Deborah Miller, Jewish Book Council ​

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"Botha has a straightforward style and a big heart. She captures the subtleties of human relationships, the desires, expectations, disappointments, cruelties, and, yes, moments of inappropriate happiness...The Chekhovian humanism and pulsing empathy throughout is more than evident...Botha captures the deep contradictory currents of the heart. She is also capable of delicate ironies and dark humour...Botha’s stories deliver news that stays news, reportage from the contemporary front lines. There’s nothing inappropriate about that."

Michael Bryson, The Miramichi Reader 

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"The book is undoubtedly a highly creative assortment, with its multiplicity of female protagonists, of different ages, from different cultural/ethnic backgrounds, each going about their lives. Often, these lives, which Botha artfully relates in just a handful of pages, have enough ordinary sadness to grant readers a peak at themselves — our efforts to assimilate loss, personal or familial, regret over missed opportunities, or the personal foibles and hang-ups that undermine self-confidence... Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness doesn’t operate within easily identifiable parameters... — or it does, until it doesn’t. Moreover, it’s not the mix of drama, humour, or quirkiness of some of the characters that makes Botha’s collection hard to classify. It’s the persistent contravention of generic boundaries, including those of realism.Many of Botha’s stories feature aspiring female artists...

What is new or unexpected is the layer of subversiveness, a dark and satirical edge in certain narratives that goes beyond descriptions of young creatives consciously balking at conventional careers or familial expectations. In part, this quality stems from the ambivalence Botha highlights in her characters’ pursuit of careers, relationships, and other ‘life goals.’...

Importantly, there’s a larger cultural (perhaps even countercultural) discursive context to which Botha is attuned, and that needs invoking to take proper stock of Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness....What follows in “All Good Things Take Time” is a series of strange events, demonstrating both mastery of elliptical storytelling and Botha’s own brand of satire.... If everything is a “Smoke Show,” to borrow the name of another striking story in this collection, one that likewise plays on the theme of inauthenticity and the blurring of lines between private and public lives, then everything truly is.... This, and the description of Miriam inflicting injuries on herself, an act that would strike most readers as a violation of propriety on multiple levels, is brutal stuff. One admires the writing, the tension Botha effects, and one winces at the same time... Also to Botha’s credit is that the Holocaust is a haunting but not lachrymose presence in this collection... Sometimes the writing is unadorned, at other times, as in the above-given passage, it’s lyrical. Regardless, Botha’s artistic eye is firmly on her subjects — always perceptive...Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness is replete with lives — those that could have been, those that were, and some that might yet be. Most meaningful for me are the stories with characters who are determined to go on living despite the calamity they’ve endured, if only for the sake of those who didn’t get the chance to. "

Olga Stein, Great Lakes Review

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"Set in Canada, Israel, and South Africa, Danila Botha’s short story collection Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness touches on themes of generational trauma, substance abuse, and love.. In “Able to Pass,” a young woman uses Jewish folklore to try and contact her grandmother’s sister, who disappeared during Second World War. In “From the Belly of the Whale,” a reserved grandfather tells his grandson about his harrowing experiences hiding from the Nazis in a bunker beneath a farm: “The earth yawned and we climbed down into its dark, giant mouth. It was impossible to see much, aside from a small blow hole at the back, the shape of a pair of tonsils.” If he had gone outside, he would have been “swallowed whole.” The title story follows a disheartened woman with debilitating rheumatoid arthritis. As she wonders “how much happiness was appropriate now that I knew I had an incurable, chronic illness,” she meets a man who whisks her back to when she was young and healthy...Heartbreaking and sentimental, this collection contains elements of magical realism and eccentric, inquisitive prose. The sun rises “like tiger’s eyes on a disappearing grey satin canvas,” and first kisses feel like “glitter in my bloodstream.” Botha flourishes in introspective moments of everyday life as her characters search for a sense of belonging." 

Megan Brearley, Literary Review of Canada

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"The best short story writers often show an unmatched precision in their work, finding ways to illuminate truths about the world with economy and elegance. They carefully observe the characters, places, and moments that will bring their stories to life on the page, and then make them all real for the reader.

Prolific and profound, Danila Botha is an author of short fiction (amongst other forms) who always looks deeply into the hearts and minds of her characters. In her latest short fiction collection, Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness (Guernica Editions), she explores cultural and religious identity, displacement, and the way that we grow to depend on interpersonal relationships of all varieties. 

The result is a collection of stories that shows vast range and depth." 

Open Book

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"Each one of these characters [exists] in the course of just a few short pages, making most of the 32 stories in this collection compelling, highly readable and frequently relatable...The fact that many of her stories focus on Jewish identity and history gives the collection an extra gravitas at a time when many Jewish writers and books with Jewish subject matter are being review bombed because of their authorship or content...In the inventive and most impressive story in the collection, Like an Alligator Eyeing a Small Fish, the narrator, Jamie, having just overdosed from drugs, meets up with Anne Frank in heaven...The spectre of the Holocaust reappears in the moving story Able to Pass, in which a young sculptor fashions a golem to go back in time and save her grandmother’s sister. It hovers again in a third story, Proteksiye and Mazel, in which Botha takes readers into the Kovno ghetto, where a young girl named Adaske dreams of escape...Readers definitely should persevere with this collection, as they are certain to find that most of the stories, and most of the vulnerable women at their core, are insightful, engaging and, although not happy in nature, evidence of Botha’s obvious talent." 

Sharon Chisvin, The Winnipeg Free Press 

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"A collection of diverse short stories united by their exploration of the lives of young women struggling to make art, find love, and be their truest selves. Different stories go at these themes from various angles, some more literally and some less so--my favourite was the young artist who meets Anne Frank in the afterlife--but all have great kindness and empathy for the struggle of being a creative woman in a society that puts tremendous pressure on women to be gorgeous, thin, and have a loving male partner. My other favourite piece is one of the longest, "All Good Things Take Time," about Miriam--a musician who moves to New York with her med student boyfriend. At first she is focused on her success and her wild adventures but there's always an undercurrent of dissatisfaction in the relationship, which curdles to self-distruction for Miriam without her ever being able to put it into words and from there, goes in a most unexpected...-direction. A complex and affecting story, as are many in this collection."

Rebecca Rosenblum, author of These Days Are Numbered, So Much Love, and more 

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"This is Danila Botha's  third collection of short stories and it really proves her to be a master of the form. As the title of the book might suggest, her characters are provocative, unruly, complex, and conflicted – and the twists their stories take make for a propulsive read. The stories explore what it means to be Jewish, what it means to be an artist, and what it means to be a woman, and they do it with a sharp wit and a big heart" 

Anuja Varghese, award winning author of Chrysalis 

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"Danila Botha's Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness is a collection of slice-of-life stories around themes of diversity, wonder, and femininity... [the stories] are inclusive, emotional, and relatable...It's been a while since I have read a book, short story or not, that has given me such pleasure. I thoroughly enjoyed the stories even though I could not relate to all of them. That is due to Danila Botha's brilliance as a writer. Botha transported me to a world where the mundanity of everyday life, relationships, and circumstances feels romantic...The writing is reflective and witty, and the stories are quick and easy to read but also deeply intellectual. The writing is remarkable, with a profound quality that makes one wonder."

Justine Reyes,  Reader's Favourite (five star) Book Review 

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"Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness by Danila Botha is a pristine collection of short fiction. Botha skillfully connects the experiences of her characters with moments of knowing, small epiphanies that resonate with wisdom, insight, and personal revelations. Her use of satire surprises and delights as stories take sudden twists, while the characters sometimes encounter historical figures who dialogue with them about deep, metaphysical issues. Echoing with deep cultural resonance, these stories dazzle with polish and charm." 

Lucy M Black, author of The Brickworks

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"Women’s bodies as source of pain, women’s pleasure is a source of pain—pleasure in food, sex, deviance—this is the thread in this compelling collection of short stories that I latched onto (and why the title is so perfect).
As women, it can feel like so much that makes us whole and complex and human is also what makes us inappropriate. One of my favourite stories in the collection is “Black Market Encounters” which is a story about a bunch of women who think they’re in a support group for women who’ve met partners (past or current) in socially unacceptable ways. A midwife who ends up married to and pregnant by the husband of one of her patients. A teacher who has sex with two of her teenage students. A nanny who has a threesome with her employers. A nurse who drugs one of her patients so she can be with the husband. This story frames these women as, not good, but morally complex, and on a spectrum—the effect of which forces us to interrogate where we draw the line. Sometimes it feels obvious, and sometimes, the line feels blurred.  A remarkable collection"

Hollay Ghadery, author of Fuse and Rebellion Box 

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"Danila Botha is no stranger to accolades, with her highly acclaimed previous books showing herself to be a consummate chronicler of the human condition. In this, her new collection of short stories, she delves into the inner lives of a diverse group of characters, ranging from Holocaust survivors to hipster artists to self-sabotaging singletons in stories that are by turns haunting, sad, and laugh-out-loud funny...For anyone interested in finely crafted tales that explore the intricacies of human nature—the good, bad, and all the messy in-betweens—I highly recommend it." 

Diane Bracuk, author of Middle Aged Boys & Girls 

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"How to capture the joy of reading this, this collection of more than two dozen tiny perfect literary gems? Each story distinct, but at its heart, this is a cohesive collection – tearing through layers of yearning and isolation, revealing narratives centering on the lost, the lonely and the disconnected...With heart-in-hand these vignettes...provide glimpses, bordered sharply in time and space, of fractured lives in everyday emotional crisis..These characters will resonate with anyone who has ever reached out, or desperately wanted to. Exposing and revealing the deeply personal, these beautifully-rendered characters manage to remain detached, restrained, or simply understated in their revelations, leaving the reader all the more touched by the gaping vulnerabilities exposed, amidst the gracefulness of their telling.

Impossible to pick favorites, yet the following must be called out – the achingly tender reflections of love in “Look at him”; the sublime tribute to a soul mate in “Love me till I’m me again”; and the heartbreaking rawness of “A good story to tell”. Sensational."

Terri Portelli, Bookly Matters review (five stars)

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"Danila Botha is not only one of the hardest working authors on the CanLit scene, she's also one of the most talented. Things that Cause Inappropriate Happiness is exotic and unique, a voice entirely Botha’s own. It was a pleasure to dive into these richly textured gems, much like losing oneself in rich tapestries in an art gallery, revelling in the velvety folds that draw you in and grab ahold of your heart." 

Lisa de Nikolits, author of Everything You Dream is Real 

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​"A visceral collection of short stories about identity, family, what it means to be Jewish and the cost of happiness. Can we shed the detritus of our past? These stories made me ponder what it means to live and what it means to survive."

Shelly Sanders, author of Daughters of the Occupation and Night Sparrow 

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"Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness by Danila Botha  [is an] excellent short story collection delves into the complexities of modern life, featuring a cast of young women, many of them artists, who grapple with their desires and the societal pressures that influence their choices. Old friends who wonder what could have been if they’d stayed together. A woman who writes long personal messages she hangs in her window during Covid. A woman who is a “cautionary tale” for her twin cousins. A couple on vacation trying to move on from a miscarriage and an affair. Each of the 32 stories turn in unexpected ways, weaving together humor and depth. Really well done." 

Julie Zuckerman, author of The Book of Jeremiah

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“Most of the characters in Danila Botha’s pulsating and often moving third collection of short fiction are young and seeking direction, and/ or meaning in a world offering a dizzying array of options… Botha’s stories tend to be short and briskly paced…some are snapshots representing a critical moment in a character’s life. Others despite their brevity, cover decades. Throughout the book, a theme emerges of the past reaching into the present, and making itself felt, either through the revelation of truths previously hidden or with a swelling of emotion as characters grope towards a new or clearer understanding of one another. In Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness, Danila writes of the tenacity of the human heart, its battle to remain true to itself. This is a book brimming with raw emotion that touches the reader deeply”

Ian Colford, The Seaboard Review 

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"I think the most perfect writing can be captured in a short story. The nuance; the glimpses behind curtains we never expected to see pulled back; the delicious vagary of being cast adrift into the middle of a story and pulled out before its end. And then of course, there is the length of the work—ideal for snatching a moment in the warmth on the back porch during the workday lunch hour, or between a nap and a barbeque on a lazy summer Saturday. Danila Botha’s latest collection has proven the right choice, deeply engaging in perfect, summer-size nuggets."

Karen Green, author of Yellow Birds 

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"This generous collection features... a kaleidoscope of critical life moments and raw emotions. Botha’s characters, particularly women, bear scars from war, the Holocaust, conservative traditions, diseases, and unrequited love. They are internally fractured by intense longing, shame, and love, and yet fight to stay true to themselves. Unabashedly, they pursue "inappropriate happiness" through various means—embracing the rough outdoors, experimenting with mind-altering drugs, exploring once-suppressed sexuality, and above all, steadfastly refusing to compromise their art." 

Su Chang, author of The Immortal Woman

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"Everyone in this book is alive. Painfully, nervously, ardently. This collection, (like Chekhov by way of Kathy Acker but utterly original,) is truthful and dreamy, tough and tremulous; sad and aching, seductively, with hope."

Lynn Crosbie, author of Where Did You Sleep Last Night

 

"For All The Men (and Some of the Women) I've Known might be Botha's most triumphant work to date... For All The Men has Botha delivering smart prose that seamlessly balances humour, disappointment and dysfunction...In addition to sharp and perceptive characterization, Botha's writing is perfectly paced. The reader repeatedly discovers moments in which everything seems to fall together: a character pulls you in, a beautiful scene is set, and before you know it, devastation unfolds... But Botha is  consistently sympathetic to her characters experiences... Botha is an incredibly fresh voice in Canadian literature, and this visceral and remarkable collection feels like it's only setting the stage for much more to come" 

Liz Worth, Quill and Quire Magazine (Starred Review)

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"Like a series of orchestral variations whose loops and iterations are made vital by the steady introduction of new elements... These are stories full of people who disappoint, or are disappointed, yet they rarely end on a note of despair, which in today's Tinder-enabled relationship landscape seems almost like an act of subversion. She has a fine talent too, for putting emphasis in unexpected places.... This unexpectedness can extend to Botha's turns of phrase, which offers a wry counterpoint to her project as a whole"

Emily Donaldson, The Toronto Star 

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"In this powerful collection, we come to see the plenty sides of the heart: the good, the bad and the downright terrible...This stunning collection will absolutely affect you...Each of these stories are real and honest, open and gut-wrenching, and Botha makes them jump out from the page into your mind. The characters are unforgettable. This book will stay with you for a long time, as you ponder your own understanding of love long after you have shut the last page" 

Laurie Burns, Atlantic Books Today 

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"Power dynamics pervade Danila Botha’s sophomore collection, which focuses on the romantic travails of a group of urban twenty somethings falling into and out of love, lust and friendship...Botha’s characters freely indulge in sex and drugs and copious amounts of alcohol in their quest to find succour or peace, though it becomes readily apparent that what they are most intent on discovering – and what proves most elusive – is some sort of authentic connection with another human being. The author is undeniably familiar with modern urban ennui, and the stories in her collection have an admirable directness and grit...Botha is clear-eyed in illustrating the ways her protagonists’ devotion to their vision of romantic purity is either subverted or results in the unintended consequence of alienating the very object of their longing"

Steven Beattie, The Globe and Mail 

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"The collection is composed of short, emotionally dense vignettes....By layering varying iterations of love’s path on top of each other, the stories tell how chance meetings or university flirtations can evolve into steep romances, then quickly into uncomfortable discoveries or withering affection. Botha has a talent with words and description and she is speaking smartly, even boldly toward and from within a milieu she understands... there are great moments of shine in this collection, including the break-up story “Start Being More Independent (and Stop Telling Me You Love Me),” which strikes a moving balance between the strangeness of getting to know one another, the self-narration of intimacy and the sudden simplicity of departure. The opening story, “Love and Polar Bears,” is an awesome blast of a young woman coming to terms with being the mistress in the grand narrative of her last relationship. At her best, Botha repaints the stoic male canvasses of Cheever and Carver, but with a sensing, reflective affect" 

Jonathan Valelly, The Winnipeg Review 

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“With an ear for poetry and a knack for tragedy, Danila Botha is an expert on yearning. These stories are for anyone who has ever loved and lost, but not let go.”

Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall, author of Ghosted 

 

"For All the Men and Some of the Women I've Known is unlike anything I have ever read before. Unflinchingly honest in its examination of love in all its joyful, messy, agonizing, spectacularly beautiful glory, these stories seem to vibrate on their own emotional frequency. Danila Botha writes with a heartbreaking rawness and intensity that will continue to haunt you long after you've turned the final page."

Amy Jones, author of We're All in This Together 

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“Danila Botha’s debut novel tells the extraordinary story of four individuals whose lives intersect in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood. The narrative, which is constructed in alternating first-person voices, reveals a deep understanding of human nature… By the novel’s end… Botha makes clear [that love] the only thing that can save these characters.”

Safa Jinje, Quill and Quire Magazine

 

"Set in Toronto’s gritty Parkdale neighbourhood, Danila Botha's Too Much on the Inside burrows deep inside the heads of four twenty somethings as they fumble through tumultuous relationships in the hopes of finding happiness in their adopted home…despite its violence Too Much on the Inside is a tender love story” 

Sue Carter, Metro News

 

“Danila Botha, whose first book drew praise for its compassion and urgency, brings similar sentiments to her interwoven portrayals of four new Torontonians of diverse origin (South Africa, Brazil, Israel and Nova Scotia) drawn to the openness and opportunities they sense Queen Street West might offer them… Too Much on the Inside deserves praise for representing Parkdale’s cultural vibrancy and diversity, and in doing so moving beyond the derelict-hipster dynamic characterizing so many works set in the neighbourhood. There is an admirable freshness and enthusiasm in Botha’s writing, qualities that do not inhibit her ability to describe dark and even violent events.” 

Amy Lavender- Harris, The Literary Review of Canada 

 

"One of the strengths of the opening story in Danila Botha's debut collection is its stripping away of the reassurances of the imaginary... The staying power in the tales lie in Botha's carefully inflected first person narration... (her character's) accounts of domestic atrocities are chilling in their dry simplicity and candour."

Jim Bartley, The Globe and Mail 

 

"Danila Botha tells stories that ask questions, one of which - constantly recurring - is what happens when you stop being able to feel? The writing is fearless, honest and poignant."

The Cape Times, South Africa

 

"Danila Botha is an emerging literary lioness on Canada's literary landscape... Got No Secrets packs an emotional wallop...powerful and poignant... an honest and freshly forthright debut that is filled with the headaches and heartburns of youth gone awry."

Stephen Patrick Clare, The Chronicle Herald, Halifax