Bessie Emery Head, a writer deeply rooted in Botswana, explores the complexities of identity, exile, and societal prejudice. Her work often delves into the lives of marginalized individuals, portraying their struggles for self-discovery and resilience amidst challenging circumstances. Head's distinctive narrative style blends personal experience with fictional elements, offering profound insights into the human condition and the search for belonging. Her literary contributions continue to resonate, highlighting universal themes of displacement and the enduring strength of the human spirit.
This collection features an expanded and updated selection of short stories that delve into themes of tenderness and power. Drawing inspiration from Head's original work, it explores complex human emotions and relationships, offering readers a rich tapestry of narratives that resonate with contemporary issues. Each story is crafted to illuminate the nuances of personal connections and the struggles for empowerment, making it a poignant reflection on the human experience.
When Rainclouds Gather: Escaping South Africa and his troubled past, Makehaya crosses the border to Botswana, in the hope of leading a peaceful, purposeful life. In the village of Golema Mmidi he meets Gilbert, a charismatic Englishman who is trying to modernise farming methods to benefit the community. The two outsiders join forces, but their task is fraught with hazards: opposition from the corrupt chief, the pressures of tradition, and the unrelenting climate ever threaten to bring tragedy. Maru: Margaret, an orphan from a despised tribe, has lived her life under the loving protection of a missionary's wife. She has only to open her mouth to cause confusion, for her education and English accent do not fit her looks. When she accepts her first teaching post, in a remote village, Margaret is befriended by Dikeledi, sister of Maru the chief-in-waiting. Despite making influential friends, Margaret faces prejudice even from the children she teaches, and her presence causes Maru and his best friend - also Dikeledi's lover - to become sworn enemies.
Offering your students stories, poetry, biographical writings and essays from
across Africa, this series includes work from nearly 40 writers from 19
different countries.
A bestselling title in Heinemann's long-established 'African Writers Series',
this novel is now being published with a new introduction as part of the new
series 'African Writers Series Classics'.
Two exiles--one white, one black--in a poor village in Botswana struggle with tradition, climate, and the local chief as they try to modernize the villagers' farming methods.
It is never clear to Elizabeth whether the mission principal's cruel
revelations of her origins is at the bottom of her mental breakdown, but in
the dark loneliness of the Botswanan night, the frightened South African
refugee slips in and out of sanity.
