House of Stone

Written By Linda Malek
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House of Stone by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma

Reviewed by Linda
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At first glance, House of Stone is about the struggles and issues of Zimbabwe throughout the 20th century - Rhodesia's independence and evolution from British colonialism into the modern-day, the rise of Mugabe, and the seldom-told atrocities of the 1983-87 Gukuruhundi massacre. As a historical fiction aficionado, this spoke to me and I was quick to pick this book up. But what I didn't know I'd signed up for, is the retelling and reenactment of Zimbabwe's turbulent history through the mind and actions of an actual psychopath, Zamani. In parallel, this is also Zamani's coming of age story, and as an orphan of the Gukuruhundi massacre, this is also the primal longing for a family of his own.

Bukhosi has mysteriously disappeared during a rally and his parents, Agnes and Abed are beside themselves with despair amidst the bloodshed. Zamani their lodger, takes advantage of this situation, and through cruelty, manipulation, and violence penetrates into the Mlambo family in order to replace Bukhosi. Only Zamani knows the truth about Bukhosi's whereabouts and here begins the craziest of literary journeys.

Tshuma writes parts in Ndebele, but this story isn't watered down for the Western palate - this is an unapologetic Zimbabwean story that doesn't feature much in the Western hemisphere.

Tshuma cleverly uses this unreliable narrator to provide something confusing, unnerving, and fascinating at the same time - I admit, it took me longer to read this than it should have but that's nothing to do with Tshuma's writing - I just don't think my brain was ready for this. It is a spider's web of characters and the journey to the end is unsettling but you'd be mistaken if you thought the ending would bring you some reprieve.

Linda Malek

I've always had the urge to set up a forum and voice my thoughts after each read, but never had the confidence to do so alone. 18 months ago, I got my fellow book-loving friends involved and formed The Candid Book Club! Aside from having an exponentially growing to-read pile and deteriorating shortsightedness, we've been lucky to have been invited to publisher events and have attended several talks with our favourite authors (Thank you and long may they continue!) To take a break from the pressures of PhD Chemistry, Jess and I exchanged books all the time and in my youth, I was that kid with the first editions of Harry Potter having already read Gulliver’s travels and some Charles Dickens. At work, my desk is a library and luckily for me I sit next to another bookworm Jack who entertains all the photo-taking. I'm suffering from a chronic case of wanderlust (age-related crisis) so books which are set as far away from home as possible tend to float my boat: Middle East, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Asia...you name it. But if it's got anything to do with Egypt then I'm all over it. So you get the drift...I read all the time, everywhere (on the tube mostly), everyday, a book a week, and very quickly I'm onto the next! And then sometimes there is a book that stops me in my tracks, makes me want to swallow the pages whole, and have it next to me at all times, with some sentences staying with me forever: Shantaram by David Gregory Roberts, anything by Khaled Hosseini, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo (absolute gem of a woman), A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, The Good Immigrant edited by Nikesh Shuklaand and anything by Naguib Mahfouz.

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