This Mournable Body

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 BOOKER PRIZE

'As natural as the grass grows.' Chinua Achebe
'[Dangarembga] is a wonderful creator of character.' Doris Lessing
'[A] Masterpiece.' New York Times
'Searing and enlightening.' Sefi Atta, author of Everything Good Will Come

In this tense and psychologically charged novel, Tsitsi Dangarembga channels the hope and potential of one young girl and a fledgling nation to lead us on a journey to discover where lives go after hope has departed.

Here we meet Tambudzai, living in a run-down youth hostel in downtown Harare and anxious about her prospects after leaving a stagnant job. At every turn in her attempt to make a life for herself, she is faced with a fresh humiliation, until the painful contrast between the future she imagined and her daily reality ultimately drives her to a breaking point.