a nutshell: set in rural Namibia, this is a story of friendship between two neighbours with very different husbands – one kind, one abusive
a line: “Child, don’t wait until it is too late … I have seen women who have died in this thing called marriage”
an image: I loved the scene of the women’s okakungungu (working festival / group cultivation) where they sang songs of ancestors and called on their great-grandmothers as they ploughed Kauna’s land before the rains, then sat drinking and chatting in a spirit of sisterhood under the marula (wild plum) tree
a thought: though the society is eminently patriarchal, wives are the backbone of the village and several women are seen to stand up to domineering men – such as when an elderly woman publicly shamed Shange, asking what he feels when he beat his wife who could not beat him back
a fact: through the exuberant descriptions of dishes throughout the book, I learned that dried caterpillars are a Namibian delicacy
want to read The Purple Violet of Oshaantu? visit here
reading women worldwide 