The promise of the new and the shackles of the old test a Zimbabwean woman’s resolve, writes Katlego Mkhwanazi.
SWEET MEDICINE by Panashe Chigumadzi (Jacana)
Panashe Chigumadzi’s book is set in 2008 during the worst of Zimbabwe’s economic crisis.
‘Educating a girl too much was asking for trouble, asking her to become a prostitute.” Those are the words that Tsitsi, a young Zimbabwean woman, grew up hearing from her Catholic priest who, like many men around her, believed a woman’s place was in the seat behind a man.
Panashe Chigumadzi, born in Zimbabwe and raised in South Africa, puts Tsitsi, the main character in Sweet Medicine, at the heart of a patriarchal society; a society that is not open to educating young girls.
Set in Harare 2008, at the height of Zimbabwe’s economic crisis, Sweet Medicine is about how Tsitsi tries to attain “economic and romantic” security in an unstable Zimbabwe. But with what is she prepared to part to attain that sort of security?
Chigumadzi hooks the reader with a story structure in which Tsitsi’s journey comes full circle. Although the events at the beginning of the novel are confusing and the narrative jumps between the past and the present, the reader will want to turn the pages to connect the dots.
Chigumadzi, a first-time novelist, does well in showing and not telling.
She does, however, waffle on with the descriptions. In a short book, this takes up unnecessary pages. Zimbabwe is a country with a fascinating story, bits of which Chigumadzi succeeds in retelling in a digestible manner and through a not-so-cheesy love tale.
She gives a history lesson, too, but in entertaining language – Sweet Medicine is also an opportunity to improve your Shona vocabulary.
For full review by Katlego Mkhwanazi see Mail & Guardian
