Zambezia (1989), XVI (i).BOOK REVIEWSBones By C. Hove. Harare, Baobab, 1988, viii, 135 pp., ISBN 0-908311-03-6,Z$9,90.Chenjerai Hove, a leading Zimbabwean poet, recently won the Noma Award forhis trail-blazing novel, Bones. The novel Š one is tempted to call it a dramaticpoem Š is a sensitive evocation of the horrors of war. The haunting, elegiac styleevokes the thoughts, feelings and frustrations of the protagonist, Marita, who is aconscientious, over-worked, long-suffering farm labourer. By choosing an'ordinary woman' as his central figure, Hove exposes the impact of the war onthose who, in many respects, bore the brunt of the suffering. Invaluable to heremployer, yet systematically belittled by him, Marita grows in moral staturethroughout the novel as her determination, courage and fortitude are revealed.The humiliation that the workers endure from their boss, nicknamedManyepo because of his belief that all Africans are liars, is set in a context ofextreme poverty and degradation; as Marita's husband points out: 'I am not goingback to that reserve where dogs and people eat from one plate' (p. 18). Ironically,Marita lies in order to save Manyepo from the guerrillas who wish to kill him as awarning to other cruel employers. In the midst of carnage and suffering she doesnot lose sight of the value of human life.Hove's ability to enter into Marita's consciousness is breathtaking, his use ofShona idioms and speech patterns lends authenticity to the narrative, and the richtexture of the novel is apparent in the sophisticated use of imagery and symbol.The plight of the childless or barren woman is brought sharply into focus inMarita's recollection of the early years of her marriage. The thoughtlessassumption that it is the woman who is responsible in cases of infertility and thesnide remarks of neighbours highlight the plight of women within a Zimbabweancontext. The rape of Janifa by the predatory Chisaga is symbolic of the systematicabuse of power by those in authority Š be they White or Black. The pathos lies inthe fact that power is so often misused for intensely selfish and decadent ends.The novel explores diffe rent responses to the abuse of power Š from Marita'shusband's cowed acceptance of the status quo to the cowardly bully-boy tactics ofthe craven Chisaga, who ingratiates himself with Manyepo and oppresses thoseslightly lower down the pecking order. Marita is a symbol of those with thecourage to challenge the system, who refuse to accept the status quo. Her love forand her concern over the official's refusal to tell her the fate of her only son, whojoined the guerrillas, precipitates her quest for him in the alien and alienatingenvironment of the city. Significantly, she dies during her quest. The reader buildsup a kaleidoscopic picture of Marita from the recollections of those closest to her.Her determination to take on bureaucrats, her resolve to ask the questions othersrefuse to ask and her insistence on public accountability all mirror her heroicstature. Like all tragic heroes, she goes down fighting, and the text suggests thather spirit lives on in the minds of all who knew her, as a vindication of her moralstature.Hove's poetic insight into the conditions of those whosuffer is mediated withdeep humour and compassion. The resilience of the human spirit is apparentthroughout the narrati vc and the novel is a classic in its own right. Though deeply100 BOOK REVIEWSembedded in the Zimbabwean experience, the novel has a universal significanceŠ as testified by its winning the prestigious Noma Award. Chenjerai Hove is tobe congratulated for producing such a powerful novel, his first written in English,and the reading public, undoubtedly, eagerly awaits his next book.Baobab Books are also to be congratulated on the excellent quality of thebook. Luke Tongoronga's illustrations are very striking and the cover is veryattractive indeed.University of Zimbabwe M. Z. MALABANervous Conditions By Tsitsi Dangarembga. Harare, Zimbabwe PublishingHouse, 1988, 204 pp., ISBN 0-949225-79-7, Z$ 13,20.First things first: this is a very well-written and absorbing novel. The writer's lucidprose style immediately involves the reader in the unfolding drama of the youngShona heroine growing up as she struggles to understand and to adapt to two verydifferent cultures and life-styles. As the young Tambudzai grows up she has tocome to terms with both the traditional African culture, as typified by her parents'homestead in the rural areas of the then Rhodesia, and the modern, Western wayof life as typified by the mission run by her wealthy, comparatively sophisticateduncle where she is educated. The narrator, blending the shrewd innocence of thechild she was and the reflective, slightly cynical woman she is new, sees bothsystems for what they are: unlike many African writers, Tsitsi Dangarembga doesnot view the rural homestead in nostalgic, sentimental terms; indeed there areseveral passages in the novel describing the poverty, squalor, and hopelessness ofTambudzai's parents' home with horrifying realism.But all is not sweetness and light on the other side either. The Western way oflife is portrayed as attractive, but dangerous. The strains of living in a foreignculture warp Tambudzai's uncle's essentially benevolent nature and mar hisrelationship with his daughter, Nyasha (whose mentality is more English thanShona as a result of spending most of her early childhood in England).Tambudzai's downtrodden mother sums up this predicament most succinctly:'It's the Englishness, it'll kill them all if they aren't careful' (p. 202). It is partly thisstrain of adapting to two conflicting cultures that gives rise to the 'nervousconditions' of the title.This novel is also about another kind of conflict, that between the sexes. It is, inthe narrator's own words, 'my story, the story of four women whom I loved, andour men' (p. 204). At first, Tambudzai sees women's subordinate position as part oftheir poverty, but comes to realize thatthe victimization... was universal. It didn't depen d on poverty, on lack of education or ontradition. It didn't depend on any of the things I thought it depended on. Men took iteverywhere with them... But what I didn't like was the way all the conflicts came back tothis question of femaleness. Fcmaleness as opposed and inferior to maleness (pp. 115-16).Each of the four women reacts differently to this attempted subjugation, and theiractions and attitudes make up a great deal of the interest of this book.All these points, though themselves very much worth writing about, would