House of Stone by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma, 2020 (ZIMBABWE)
R375, Clarke’s Bookshop
A brilliant account of the 1980s Matebeleland genocide in Zimbabwe, told through the eyes of a young man searching for his past.
“A man of consciousness, gifted with a mind and a blank screen and a keyboard such as I have, makes his own hi-story proper” – Novuyo Rosa Tshuma, House of Stone
Ways of Dying by Zakes Mda, 1995 (SOUTH AFRICA)
R295, The Book Lounge
A celebration of a homeless Cape Town’s man undying love for his sweetheart.
“Death lives with us everyday. Indeed, our ways of dying are our ways of living. Or should I say our ways of living are our ways of dying?” – Zakes Mda, Ways of Dying
The Famished Road by Ben Okri, 1991 (NIGERIA)
R240, Clarke’s Bookshop
A spirit child battles the call of his spirit friends so as not to disappoint his earthly family by dying.
“Human beings are gods hidden from themselves” – Ben Okri, The Famished Road
Harare North by Brian Chikwava, 2010 (ZIMBABWE)
R215, Clarke’s Bookshop
The lives of several very different people fleeing Zimbabwe’s disintegration.
“[I]f you don’t spin them smooth jazz numbers then immigration people is never going to give you chance to even sniff first step into Queen’s land” – Brian Chikwava, Harare North
A Question of Power by Bessie Head, 1986 (SOUTH AFRICA)
R304, Clarke’s Bookshop
A woman disintegrates in exile from South Africa.
“Life is such a gentle, treasured thing. I learn about it every minute” – Bessie Head, A Question of Power