Novuyo Rosa Tshuma
Auteur de House of Stone
A propos de l'auteur
Crédit image: GoRealr Studios
Œuvres de Novuyo Rosa Tshuma
Haus aus Stein 1 exemplaire
Oeuvres associées
New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent (1992) — Contributeur — 90 exemplaires
McSweeney's Issue 52: In Their Faces a Landmark: Stories of Movement and Displacement (2018) — Contributeur — 36 exemplaires
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Date de naissance
- 1988
- Sexe
- female
- Nationalité
- Zimbabwe
- Pays (pour la carte)
- Zimbabwe
- Lieu de naissance
- Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
- Lieux de résidence
- Houston, Texas, USA
- Études
- University of Witwatersrand (BComm)
University of Iowa Writers' Workshop (MFA)
University of Houston (PhD) - Professions
- fiction editor, Bare Life Review
writing professor, Emerson University
convener, Kwantuthu Writers’ Workshop
co-founder, Deputy Editor, Jalada
Membres
Critiques
Listes
To Read (1)
Prix et récompenses
Vous aimerez peut-être aussi
Auteurs associés
Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 6
- Aussi par
- 6
- Membres
- 149
- Popularité
- #139,413
- Évaluation
- 3.8
- Critiques
- 6
- ISBN
- 14
- Langues
- 1
The main character is Zamani, a young Zimbabwean man, who finding himself without home or family tries to inviegle himself into the home of Abednego and Agnes Mlambo, after their son Bukhosi goes missing. He attempts to replace the longed for son, to gain their trust, and prise apart their family histories and secrets. In doing so we are taken back through Zimbabwean history through the 1970s and 1980s.
The story traces the history of the fledgling nation of Zimbabwe, although in broad brush strokes and a slightly confusing back-and-forth fashion which requires some after-reading research to untangle. The Rhodesia region was originally annexed by the British South Africa Company under Cecil Rhodes after conquering Mashonaland in 1890 and seizing Matabeleland in 1893 from the Matabele people. In 1923 Southern Rhodesia was formed as a self governing British colony until in 1965 when the white separatist government declared independence from Britain and became Rhodesia. There was guerilla warfare for the next 15 years with Black Nationalist forces until a peace treaty and formation of the nation of Zimbabwe in 1980 (the name being translated Houses of Stone). Robert Mugabe was elected as prime minister. The two main Black Nationalist groups had been the ZAPU under Mugabe, consisting mainly of Shona people, and the ZANU under Joshua Nkomo, mainly made up of Mathebele peoples including the Ndebele and Kalanga. The Gukurahundi massacres which featured heavily in this book, were reprisals by the armed forces of ZAPU, particularly the North Korean trained Fifth Brigade, under instruction from Mugabe, eliminating any “dissidents” from Nkomo’s opposing party, but ending in the torture, rape, burning and genocide of at least 20,000 men, women and children. The Gukurahundi means "the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains,” later described by Mugabe as “a moment of madness.”
This book reinforced why I often don’t get on with prize winning literature. It was a difficult read, and took me half the book before I was able to settle into it at all. None of the characters were at all likeable. Zamani was a manipulative psychopath, Abednego was a violent drunk, and it was impossible to care about any of them. The story shifted abruptly from setting to setting, to different eras, and between reality and dream like states with little warning. There was graphic onscreen violence, rape and torture, obviously consistent with the historical reality. Disappointingly though, I probably learned more from my google search afterwards, but I guess at least the book inspired me to do that.… (plus d'informations)