Novel
Bones
Chenjerai Hove · 1988
Synopsis
On a vast commercial farm in wartime Rhodesia, Marita, a peasant woman turned farm worker, sees her only son leave to join the liberation fighters. The white boss, Manyepo, rules the farm, assisted by the foreman Chiriseri, who humiliates the workers, while the cook Chisaga stays close to the master. When the son does not return, Marita sets off for the city to look for him. Her story is pieced together through the voices of those who knew her, beginning with Janifa's, mingled with the voices of spirits.
Context
The novel appeared in Harare in 1988 from Baobab Books, one hundred and thirty-five pages, then in 1989 in Heinemann's African Writers series. The first novel in English by its author, until then a poet, it brings out a succession of voices, those of the characters as well as those of spirits, in a language nourished by Shona turns of phrase. Actes Sud published a French translation by Jean-Pierre Richard in 1997, under the title Ossuaire, and the African Books Collective reissued it in 2023.
Who it is for
In English, a short novel. The narrative passes from one voice to another; you have to accept not always knowing at once who is speaking.
Prizes and reception
Noma Award for Publishing in Africa in 1989 and first prize of the Zimbabwean publishers; regarded as a classic, and debated for the way it portrays women.
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