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lindseyzank's review
5.0
Yvonne Vera is a most astounding and beautiful author. More should read her work. She had a true grasp of what it meant to be African and a woman in a world rife with colonialism and violence. Where we so often look to Achebe to teach us about Africa, we should equally look to Vera. She has a lot to teach through her stories.
gal1's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ska's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
A really challenging read, it’s written in a very poetic style that challenges the reader to step in and out of first person. It’s done in a stylistic but challenging way, especially for readers unaccustomed to magical realism. It explores themes of ancestral spiritualism at the time of colonialism in Zimbabwe through the fictionalisation of a prominent figure during the civil war—Nehanda. Who was in fact a real person but has been depicted in a fictional sense. Interesting read, although for non-African or just non Zimbabwean readers who are not very knowledgeable of the culture and history, I would definitely recommend reading up on Mbuya Nehanda and her role in the civil war prior to reading this book in order to be able to get the most out of this read.
anetq's review
3.0
Stylistically very interesting - while the chapters about the white colonists in Africa are written in a classic (Western/European) style with naturalistic descriptions and dialogue, most of the book is written from the viewpoint of the indigenous people of the land. The spirit world is real, time is of no real importance (something which does a lot of structuring in a western story) - it is sometimes unclear to me as a western reader what is going on, if anything, and what it really means. This does not make it an illegible book at all, it just does a very good job of conveying the feelings and thoughts describing the war against the white invaders in Botswana, even if it is an unusual read. But also made me consider how much of the other African literature is in deed very British/French/Western in form and structure.
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