Ellen Kuzwayo (1914–2006)

Towards the end she writes, in the voice of one of the characters (probably real): "We listened eagerly to our grandparents and other adults telling us many stories - tales of ghosts, of huge river snakes, of large birds said to have unsurpassed magical powers, and of Tikoloshe, a short, hairy being full of magical power'.

Kuzwayo's are not this kind of story. Her stories are set out as if folk tales, but they are clearly representations of real black families' and individual lives told quite straightforwardly. The injustices afforded to these families, and of course particularly the women in apartheid South Africa are told in a humble way with their share of grief and pain mixed with great courage just to get through what she calls 'daily living'.

A tiny book but an important set of variations on themes by History.

It's been an interesting foray in terms purely of reading too, following on from Calasso's 'Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony' and Alexandra Fuller's 'Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight'. The Calasso retold the Greek myths and so you had the same names popping up throughout maybe in different guises (Apollo, Persephone etc). Similarly here, babies called Mpho (Gift) and Lerato (Love) keep turning up in different families facing different challenges. Alexandra Fuller's book was of course an autobiographical work from the viewpoint of a white South African, and the difference in style of storytelling is huge, while the rather oblique look at people from each other's communities are almost identical.… (mer)