House of Stone by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma

House of Stone

Novuyo Rosa Tshuma

This is the story of the massacres in and around Bulawayo in the early 1980s by the North Korean trained 5th battalion of the Zimbabwe army. It is told from the point of view of the survivors and the subsequent generations and tells of the impact of the massacres on people's lives, even into the last years of the Mugabe regime. It is not an easy read. People have actually died to tell this story. That is why it is important.

Extract
I hadn't realized I was clenching my fists until my palms began to throb from the force of my nails digging into my skin. I took a deep breath, exhaled. Relaxed my hands. My plan was to leap over the rope cordoning us povo from the VIPs, sprint across the red carpet, ducking the bodyguards who would not doubt try to stop me and grab Black Jesus's gun from its holster.
Parallels
  • An Elegy for Easterly by Pettina Gappah
  • The Texture of Shadows by Mandla Langa
  • The List by Barry Gilder