Welcome to Litsy!

Not a good reading month 😢 I‘ve never missed my #bookspin #doublespin and getting a #bookspinbingo since this started. But: time to try again.

This second volume in a trilogy is rather depressing. It outlines Tambu‘s experience at boarding school during the war leading to Zimbabwe‘s sovereignty in 1980. Her every achievement is thwarted by a broken, racist, colonial system. The writing is simple but peppered with rather poetic language. I didn‘t enjoy this as much as the first book, but that it‘s because I felt so bad for the frustration of Tambu as she deals with so much unfairness.

Such a sad realization that Tambu has. After all her efforts to succeed in school, she is up against a broken system.

Book that #BeginsWith #Book - one of my recent book purchases. Looking forward to reading it.

The second book in the Nervous Conditions trilogy, Dangarembga‘s semi-autobiographal series of novels set in Zimbabwe. The first book ended as Tambu achieved entry into a prestigious Catholic school (entirely white except for 6 girls). This book covers Tambu‘s high school years during the war for independence and her first job in the post independence world. It opens on a truly harrowing and terrifying moment. ⬇️

This begins where the wonderful Nervous Conditions ended, but with a different the atmosphere. Tambu attends a privileged white girls school as a charity-case black African. In the school‘s isolation she deals with racism, adolescence and the stress of expectations. Outside the school the majority black population of Rhodesia, including Tambu‘s family, is rebelling in the bloody war of independence that led to Zimbabwe. Terrific sequel.

Starting a new book this morning - a pretty new 2021 edition released in May. This is the second in the Tambudzai trilogy.