Harare North [Paperback]

Brian Chikwava (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2010

In an astonishing, revelatory original debut, Caine Prize for African Writing winner Brian Chikwava tackles head-on the realities of life as a refugee

 

When he lands in Harare North, our unnamed protagonist carries nothing but a cardboard suitcase full of memories and an email address for his childhood friend, Shingi. Finessing his way through immigration, he spends a few restless weeks as the very unwelcome guest in his cousin's home before tracking down Shingi in a squat. This shocking, powerful first novel is the story of a stranger in a strange land—one of the thousands of illegal Zimbabwean immigrants seeking a better life—with a past he is determined to hide. From the first line the language fizzes with energy, humor, and not a little menace. As he struggles to make his life in London (the "Harare North" of the title) and battles with the weight of what he has left behind in a strife-torn Zimbabwe, every expectation and preconception is turned on its head. The inhabitants of the squat function at various levels of desperation: Shingi struggles to find meaningful work and to meet the demands of his family back home; Tsitsi makes a living renting out her baby to women defrauding Social Services; Alex claims to have an important job in Croydon. Fearlessly political, laugh-out-loud funny, and with an anti-hero whose voice is impossible to forget, this novel is an arresting account of London as it is experienced by Africa's dispossessed.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The unnamed narrator of Chikwava’s alternately funny and appalling novel is an émigré who arrives in London with little more than a cardboard suitcase. He’s on the run from trouble back in his native country of Zimbabwe, where he ran into difficulties as a member of President Robert Mugabe’s Green Bombers youth militia, who meted out violent punishment to those perceived to be enemies of the state. He finds his old schoolmate Shingi living in a squalid flat in Brixton along with other hapless émigrés, including Tsitsi, who makes a living renting her baby to women out to scam social services. Worry about being taken advantage of by unscrupulous employers and of being deported by immigration services alternates with the desperation of running out of food and money. And yet, the book is often darkly comic as the narrator, employing a vivid vernacular style, struggles to parse the strange ways of Londoners. This striking debut novel offers a wholly distinctive voice and an up-close view of the plight of illegal immigrants. --Joanne Wilkinson

Review

"The darkest of comedies, fueled by an electric, wholly convincing voice."  —Observer

"An hilarious and wrenching examination of immigrant life . . . from a prodigiously talented and uncompromising writer."  —Ali Smith, author, The Accidental

"Chikwava has created an utterly compelling anti-hero . . . mesmerizing."  —Guardian

"A perfectly original and true narrative voice . . . Full of surprises, delicious little tics, and real fire-in-the-belly creativity . . . but importantly, the voice comes off as effortless, and therefore true . . . it’s a major accomplishment."  —Tod Wodicka, author, All Shall Be Well

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 234 pages
• Publisher: Random House UK (May 10, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099526751
• ISBN-13: 978-0099526759
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,697,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A just above average book, August 20, 2009

By 

Rami H. Rajeh "Meeps" (Beirut, Lebanon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harare North (Hardcover)

This book is well written and the fact that it is written in a Zimbabwe accent makes it even more of a pleasure to read. The picture the author paints is very telling and it reflects on an unnoticed facet to life in London. However, overall, it is not a great book and the ending is rather dry.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent dark comedy about illegal immigrants in London, August 9, 2009

By 

Darryl R. Morris "Kidzdoc" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harare North (Hardcover)

The unnamed narrator of this debut novel emigrates to London, or Harare North, from Zimbabwe, where he served as one of President Mugabe's Green Bombers, the youth attack squads that terrorized the regime's opponents. He needs US$5000 to buy back his freedom from local officials, after he is caught beating up an opposition party official.

Upon his arrival in London, he is granted temporary asylum, but does not have working papers. After staying with a cousin and his wife, he moves in with a childhood friend living in an abandoned house in Brixton, along with several other countrymen trying to make it. He eventually obtains work in the underground industry, where the best paying jobs are held by BBCs, or British Buttock Cleaners, who look after "old people that poo their pants every hour". The daily internal and external stressors on the narrator and his housemates take a large toll on their physical and mental health, and each one is ultimately left to rely on himself to survive and to avoid a descent into crime or madness.

[Harare North] is a dark comedy that becomes a suffocating and dizzying ride that the reader takes along with the narrator, which gives an instructive glimpse into the lives of illegal immigrants living under the radar of the average city resident, whether in London or any other international city.

1.0 out of 5 stars Do Not Bother, June 26, 2011

By 

JSmalls - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harare North (Paperback)

Sorry, but just because a book emanates from a unique subaltern perspective does not make it worth reading. The plot was meandering and pointless while the writing was, at times, so bad that it was hard to concentrate. The book is not worth reading let along buying.