Novuyo Rosa Tshuma

"A towering and multilayered gem." --NoViolet Bulawayo

House of Stone

"Bukhosi has gone missing. His father, Abed, and his mother, Agnes, cling to the hope that he has run away, rather than been murdered by government thugs. Only the lodger seems to have any idea. Zamani has lived in the spare room for years now. Quiet, polite, well-read and well-heeled, he's almost part of the family - but almost isn't quite good enough for Zamani. Cajoling, coaxing and coercing Abed and Agnes into revealing their sometimes tender, often brutal life stories, Zamani aims to steep himself in borrowed family history, so that he can fully inherit and inhabit its uncertain future."--Publisher's description.

Shona Tiger

Some really amazing writing! Read it in one day :)

I appreciate that there is a fair amount of subtext in this book, that I may get because I grew up in that part of Zimbabwe. For that reason, I'm extremely impressed with how this story was written, and with its complexity. Also, while the traumatic parts are very difficult to read, they are handled in a straightforward (almost clinical) way.

At her launch in Harare, someone asked her about Dambudzo Marechera's influence on her writing, and she acknowledged that. I see that, too.

So, not a perfect book (- does such a thing exist??), and not one to "like" - it's too challenging for that. But really very well done, and again - amazing writing.

House of Stone

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