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Kumbirayi Shoniwa Entertainment Reporter
The Book Cafe club this week commemorated the start of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence by reviewing a novel by Unity Dow called “The Heavens May Fall”. Dow is Botswana’s first female High Court judge and deals with human rights issues with particular focus on women and gender issues.
The novel portrays the story of Naledi Chaba, a lawyer at the Bana-Bantle Children’s Agency in Mochudi, Botswana, who specialises in cases of rape and abuse against women.
When she takes on the case of a 15-year-old girl who has been raped by the lodger, the story takes a twist as Naledi discovers many hidden secrets from her past which threaten the very foundations of society as she knows it.
“The Heavens May Fall” highlights how African culture has been trying to deal with the pressures of colonisation and globalisation especially how modern laws tend to outlaw practices which are acceptable under traditional law.
Naledi Chaba battles the prejudice of a society in which “tradition” is the justification for abuse and exploitation of women by men who also control the modern justice system as well.
The book is a fascinating and uncompromising description of how women and girls face an uphill battle when dealing with legal issues which affect them such as being forced to live with men who abuse them due to the need for money for survival in a patriarchal society.
Dow manages to imbue her bleak stories with soothing and colourful descriptions of the African landscape as well as unforgettable characters that haunt the reader long after the story is finished.
The book club meeting was attended by several women writers and publishers including Barbara Nkala and Lilian Masitera as well as a number of book enthusiasts from outside Zimbabwe.
Speaking during the discussion, Masitera described how telling a sensitive and emotional story becomes therapeutic both towards the writer as well as the reader.
“Readers’ minds are opened by the issues discussed in the novel and this can lead to changes in attitudes of both the victims and perpetrators of abusive crimes.
“The fact that the written word carries weight among people may enable those who read such books to take a look at their own lives and make necessary adjustments accordingly,” she said.
Pamberi Trust and the FLAME Gender Project will hold various programmes at the Book Cafe for the 16-day period from November 25 till December 10 including performances by Diana Samkange, Ba Shupi, Kessia Masona and Simuka Comedy, Victor Kunonga and Jamaican dub poet D’BI Young among others.
Online Reporter