“You spend the morning writing a letter to your cousin Nyasha, who has become a filmmaker in Germany, in which you ask for advice concerning leaving Zimbabwe. You want nothing more than to break away from the implacable terror of every day you spend in your country - where you can no longer afford the odd dab of peanut butter to liven up the vegetables from Mai Manyanga’s garden or the petty comfort of perfumed soap - by going away and becoming a European.” Anxious about her prospects after leaving a stagnant job, Tambudzai finds herself living in a run-down youth hostel in downtown Harare. For reasons that include her grim financial prospects and her age, she moves to a widow’s boarding house and eventually finds work as a biology teacher. But at every turn in her attempt to make a life for herself, she is faced with a fresh humiliation, until the painful contrast between the future she imagined and her daily realityultimately drives her to a breaking point. In This Mournable Body, Tsitsi Dangarembga returns to the protagonist of her acclaimed first novel, Nervous Conditions, to examine how the hope and potential of a young girl and a fledgling nation can sour over time and become a bitter and floundering struggle for survival. As a last resort, Tambudzai takes an ecotourism job that forces her to return to her parents’ impoverished homestead. This homecoming, in Dangarembga’s tense and psychologically charged novel, culminates in an act of betrayal, revealing just how toxic the combination of colonialism and capitalism can be.
CONTRIBUTORS: Tsitsi DangarembgaEAN: 9781431428304COUNTRY: South AfricaPAGES: WEIGHT: 500 gHEIGHT: 235 cm
PUBLISHED BY: Jacana Media (Pty) LtdDATE PUBLISHED: CITY: GENRE: FICTION / Coming of AgeWIDTH: 155 cmSPINE:
Book Themes:
Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary
“Searing and enlightening. Tsitsi Dangarembga has delivered a highly anticipated, devastating portrayal of a woman who, like her country, endures a continuous path of destruction.” – Sefi Atta, author of Everything Good Will Come
“Finally, Dangar
Tsitsi Dangarembga is the author of two previous novels, including Nervous Conditions, winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. She is also a filmmaker, playwright and the director of the Institute of Creative Arts for Progress in Africa Trust. She lives in Harare, Zimbabwe.
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“You spend the morning writing a letter to your cousin Nyasha, who has become a filmmaker in Germany, in which you ask for advice concerning leaving Zimbabwe. You want nothing more than to break away from the implacable terror of every day you spend in your country - where you can no longer afford the odd dab of peanut butter to liven up the vegetables from Mai Manyanga’s garden or the petty comfort of perfumed soap - by going away and becoming a European.” Anxious about her prospects after leaving a stagnant job, Tambudzai finds herself living in a run-down youth hostel in downtown Harare. For reasons that include her grim financial prospects and her age, she moves to a widow’s boarding house and eventually finds work as a biology teacher. But at every turn in her attempt to make a life for herself, she is faced with a fresh humiliation, until the painful contrast between the future she imagined and her daily realityultimately drives her to a breaking point. In This Mournable Body, Tsitsi Dangarembga returns to the protagonist of her acclaimed first novel, Nervous Conditions, to examine how the hope and potential of a young girl and a fledgling nation can sour over time and become a bitter and floundering struggle for survival. As a last resort, Tambudzai takes an ecotourism job that forces her to return to her parents’ impoverished homestead. This homecoming, in Dangarembga’s tense and psychologically charged novel, culminates in an act of betrayal, revealing just how toxic the combination of colonialism and capitalism can be.
CONTRIBUTORS: Tsitsi DangarembgaEAN: 9781431428304COUNTRY: South AfricaPAGES: WEIGHT: 500 gHEIGHT: 235 cm
PUBLISHED BY: Jacana Media (Pty) LtdDATE PUBLISHED: CITY: GENRE: FICTION / Coming of AgeWIDTH: 155 cmSPINE:
Book Themes:
Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary
Tsitsi Dangarembga is the author of two previous novels, including Nervous Conditions, winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. She is also a filmmaker, playwright and the director of the Institute of Creative Arts for Progress in Africa Trust. She lives in Harare, Zimbabwe.
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Penny Sheldon Review of latest National Geographic Atlas #11
It was a great pleasure to have this great Atlas in my hands again. I was gifted an Atlas in 1960 by my sister, and it remained with me until I wrote my M' levels in Rhodesia. It was an amazing book and was never far from my nightstand, however it didn't travel with me to South Africa as my mother took it with her to England after I left. I have always wanted another copy in the family, and this year I was able to afford it and gave the 11th Edition to my two young grandchildren. It has been a gift well received, and I thank you for keeping up with the times. Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you. Kind regards, Penny Sheldon