And stayed up late to do so!
I really enjoyed the book. Initially the setting is Zimbabwe, around 2005. This is the period in which Robert Mugabe was reclaiming land and property of white farmers and redistricting it to his cronies. Darling and her friends, aged 8-1, are roaming around all day due to a nation wide teachers' strike. They are the children of the many people who were displaced during the turbulent years preceding, losing their working class securities and forced into shanty towns. None of this is talked about in the book, by the way. I had to look it up in order to fully understand the context of the story.
For the narrator, Darling, this isn't context, it's just life. Like most people her age, she accepts the world around her and responds matter-of-factly to even the most disturbing events. But she and her friends know that they have no future if they stay in Zimbabwe, and Darling looks forward to being sent for by her aunt in "Destroyed, Michigan".
Although a lot of the subject matter is grim, this is a lively read. Darling is a great character with adaptive skills Darwin would applaud. I recommend this to:
-people who are interested in recent African events,
- those who look for strong female protagonists,
-anyone who wants to jump on the wagon train of a powerful new writer. This is Bulawayo's first book and it was long-listed for the Mann Booker (how I get a lot of my reading suggestions. Who knows if I would have found Kate Atkinson otherwise?), and will surely have more wonderful books to be anticipate.
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