Reviews

Always Another Country by Sisonke Msimang

michellegroenewald's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

atterol's review against another edition

informative inspiring sad

4.75

lindiwe's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

A well-written memoir. I appreciated reading about her views on home. A classical written (structurally) memoir which takes us from her childhood to her adulthood, reflecting on her race, class, politics, parenting, and relationships. Although she mentions her benefit of growing up in exile and access, I don't believe she is really conscious of her enormous advantages. 

10/10 for the writing though

barefootreader's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

amouramoramoure's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

favour is book to date

emilyinherhead's review against another edition

4.0

I write for myself because women seldom have spaces for themselves and writing is space; it takes up space, it creates space, it gives me space. I write because writing is solitary and women are seldom alone with just their thoughts — their responsibilities intrude. There is this to be done and that to be paid for and those moments when it is just you and your words are rare and all the more beautiful because of it. (346)

Parts of this memoir dragged or were a little more difficult to get through than others, but overall I really enjoyed it. Msimang’s writing is lovely and I wrote down quite a few quotes.

moniipeters's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

readingresa's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

I've been meaning to read this book for a while, ever since I saw Sisonke Msimang present a panel at the Perth Writer's Festival. This book helped me ubderstand the history of South Africa a bit more, and to get in the head and understand what it felt like for the people who were fighting for change. There were many emotional parts of this book, and I thought most of it was well-written. 

margaretefg's review against another edition

4.0

Sisonke Msimang is not just telling the story of growing up in exile and returning to, and leaving South Africa, she also explores race, class and gender. She is unflinching in analyzing how her own privilege blinds her. I wondered about whether her rosy memories of Zambia were shaped more by her family's personal circumstances living with other ANC exiles in revolutionary community, or how much her perception of Kaunda and the hopefulness of the early independence period was accurate. But even writing about Zambia, when she was very young, she is aware of her own class privilege and she mentions the people who work for her family. She takes us on her journey, through school in Canada, college in the US, the family's return to South Africa in the early 1990s. She grows up and things become more complex, in her life and in her country.

textpublishing's review against another edition

‘Few of us have felt the grinding force of history as consciously or as constantly as Sisonke Msimang. Her story is a timely insight into a life in which the gap between the great world and the private realm is vanishingly narrow and it bears hard lessons about how fragile our hopes and dreams can be.'
Tim Winton

‘Msimang pours herself into these pages with a voice that is molten steel; her radiant warmth and humour sit alongside her fearlessness in naming and refusing injustice. Msimang is a masterful memoirist, a gifted writer, and she comes bearing a message that is as urgent and timely as it is eternal.’
Sarah Krasnostein

‘Msimang is a talented and passionate writer, one possessed of an acerbic intelligence…This memoir is also full of warmth and humour.’
Saturday Paper

‘[An] eloquent memoir of home, belonging and race politics.’
Big Issue

‘It is not possible to do this book justice in so few words...Always Another Country is eloquent and powerful. Msimang’s explication of what it means to be from – but not of – a place is profoundly moving. Msimang deserves to be widely read and fans of Roxane Gay and Maxine Beneba Clarke, in particular, will not be disappointed.’
Readings

‘It is rare to hear from such a voice as Sisonke’s—powerful, accomplished, unabashed and brave. This is a gripping and important memoir that is also self-aware and funny, revealing the depths of a country we’ve mostly only seen through a colonial perspective.’
Alice Pung

‘An excellent blend of both the personal and political…a bold memoir…a tale that will sustain itself for generations.’
Books & Publishing

‘Brutally and uncompromisingly honest, Sisonke’s beautifully crafted storytelling enriches the already extraordinary pool of young African women writers of our time.’
Graça Machel, Minister for Education and Culture of Mozambique

‘A brave and intimate journey. Msimang delivers a deep call for fierce courage in the face of hypocrisy and compassion when faced with our shared humanity.’
Yewande Omotoso, author of The Woman Next Door

‘Sisonke Msimang kindles a new fire in our store of memoir, a fire that will warm and singe and sear for a long, long while.’
Njabulo S. Ndebele, author The Cry of Winnie Mandela