Customer Reviews

Singing Away the Hunger : The Autobiography of an African Woman

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I really enjoyed Singing Away the Hunger. Most books I read are moving but they are usually fiction. The main reason this book was so interesting is because it is entirely true. The other reason being the editor is my english teacher. While reading it, you will have to stop and tell yourself, "this really happened to this person!" The stories Nthunya tells are so unbelievable, and show so many of the bad things in human nature, that you are literally shocked. It is very possible that after reading this book your problems will shrink by 99 percent. I do not know you or how your life is, but I am pretty sure that it would be hard to compare anything in our lives to what she had to go through. While you witness her trials and tribulations you are saddened; but you also see an amazing strength in this woman that is so inspiring. How she could go through all of those experiences and still be strong, kind and faithful is beyond me. The book is very simple; it takes no time at all to read, and you will be completely satisfied. As far as books go this one is a good investment. The lessons of hardship learned by Nthunya will become your own. You can not help wanting to help Nthunya and her family who are still living in Africa, and struggling to get by. Do not just check Singing Away The Hunger out, buy it, and every time you feel your life is unbearable, read about Nthunya's. She will open your eyes to what hardships really are and inspire you to find the strength to carry on.

I've never been much of a reader, but out of the few books I have read, this one has to be the most inspirational and touching to me. Singing Away the Hunger is about the real life events and struggles of an African woman who encounters many terrible and sad things: wearing a sack and eating weeds, being beaten by a teacher, the deaths of some of her children, and many other challenges. There are also some joys she shares, such as being in love. Her struggles though, are what were inspirational to me. The way she stays strong and positive through it all is very admirable, because the things that happen to her are unimaginable to me and don't happen in the U.S.A.
The form of her writing is proficient, because it gives me a sense as if she is telling her story directly to me. Besides the story being told in first person, I really experienced this when she threw in sentences such as "When we arrive at his house, we find rice with meat. We didn't know what is rice." I was able to sense her fifth grade education, and I could almost imagine her speaking to me in an accent, with her fragments and the African words she uses often such as `M'e (mother) and ntate (father). I got a sense of closeness to her as well as compassion for her. The stories she tells, and the knowledge she gives me about the different people in Lesotho and Benoni, in South Africa, and their cultural styles helped me to understand that there are different cultures in southern Africa. For instance, I learned that Lesotho is much poorer than South Africa, and that there is one language spoken in Lesotho, but twelve different languages in South Africa.
Another thing that I really enjoyed about this book is that it is very easy to read and understand. It is also fairly short, and it kept me wondering what type of event she would have to endure next. The titles of each chapter, such as "Death by Novena" or "The Child is Burning" hooked me. The titles alone drew me into each chapter.
One downfall, in my opinion, is the lack of descriptiveness. There are things and places that she talks about and includes in her stories that I would have enjoyed more if she could have taken me there with more detailed images. I would have liked to know more about the scenery where she was. For example she doesn't describe the area that surrounds her or where she lived as much as she could have. For the most part, in my opinion, that is all that I feel the book lacked.

I enjoyed this book very much because it was inspirational, touching, and at the same time educational. I couldn't have read this book at a better time, because just when I felt things were so bad in my life, I read it and realized that it could be worse, and is worse, somewhere in the world. I would recommend this book to any one interested African cultures or anyone who has had hard times, because along with all the information, this book is sure to give you an appreciation of life itself.

In my lifetime I have read very few books that kept my attention from beginning to end. Singing Away the hunger is one of them. This book gives the reader an authentic insight into southern African culture and the struggles that some people endure. I guess I'm just a naturally nosy person, and I love hearing people's stories.
My favorite aspect of this book is its authenticity. It is almost as if I was actually sitting down face to face with Mpho 'M' Nthunya. It was different than reading reference materials on Africa or watching documentaries on National Geographic. This is not second-hand information. This is an actual person giving you information straight from the horse's mouth. Nthunya has lived a life filled with tragic events on top of the everyday struggle that she and her people must live with. To have her actually sitting down telling her story just makes the reader feel it that much more.
Now that the style of the book had my attention, I was ready to enjoy the content. This book is extremely entertaining and informative. As Nthunya is telling her life story, she also explains alot of African customs and traditions. I learned more about Africa from this book than I had ever learned in school. Not only did I learn about the customs and traditions, I also became familiar with the overall lifestyle and how hard it is for them to survive. Most of our basic necessities would be luxuries to this woman. For Americans, the dream is basically to be financially successful and be able to afford as many luxuries as one possibly can. For Nthunya and her people, they struggle just to eat and have clothes. To put this in perspective, on page 20 Nthunya explains how they were afraid to eat rice the first time they encountered it. "We didn't know what rice is. We have never seen it before. We think it is maggots....We eat the bread only because we are afraid of the rice....Finally we say 'Oh, ke hantle,OK, we didn't know.' And we eat. We find it tastes all right, but we still feel strange to put these round white things in our mouths." In addition to the struggles of her life, the customs of her culture were also interesting to read about. I especially found the way they approach healthcare interesting. In chapter nine Nthunya and her husbandseek medical help after she has yet another miscarriage. First they visit a Chinese doctor who gives her medicine. They then decide to go to a "traditional" doctor. The "traditional" doctor explains to them that Nthunya's dead grandmother is causing these miscarriages because she is angry. The "traditional" doctor tells her, "So you must go home, Mpho, to your mother's house, and tell your mother that she must take a goat, slit its neck, and remove the gall bladder. Your mother must put the gall bladder in a baisin of water and wash you with her hands and this water from head to toes. And after that the meat of the goat can be eaten by everybody." It surprised me that this was coming from a "traditional" doctor. They visit more of these doctors for a variety of situations throughout the book. She also explains everything from how the school system works, to the different customs of marriage and pregnancy. It is very interesting.
There was one small aspect of the book that I did not like. This was that the names began to get a little confusing. I found it hard to keep up. She has several children, along with her family, plus her in-laws. Most of the names are African, and I found it hard to remember something that I was not familiar with in the first place. This did not take away from the stories; it was more of a pet peeve than a flaw. Although I did not like it, I understand that it is necessary. The thing that made it frustrating was that I was so interested that I wanted to remember the names and who these people were.
Overall, I would recommend this book to any and everybody. I would even recommend this book to people who do not like to read. You will not be reading a book. You will be sitting down listening to the life story of Mpho 'M' Nthunya. This book is also a good way to become familiar with the lifestyle and traditions of the African culture. As Americans, it is also a good way to put our life into perspective. It made me realize how many things we take for granted. It also made me realize that happiness can be found in any situation. Mpho Nthunya is an extremely strong woman who has been through a lot. I finished this book with a newfound respect for her and her people. I think you will enjoy it.

Learned a good bit about the customs held in s.Africa. plenty of deep topics addressed in this book from a woman's role to alternate medicines.
nice read

I love this book. Thanks to Limakatso, Mpho 'M'atsepo gave her story for all to read. I am so thankful I stumbled on this book. I read it in 2 sittings and will keep it forever.

Singing Away the Hunger is a captivating true story of an African woman and the journeys of her tragic yet fulfilling life. Mpho `M'atsepo Nthunya told her life story to Dr. K. Limakatso Kendall, an American who visited her country. The book is almost like a book of short stories, each chapter being a different event that happened to Mpho. She speaks of her childhood in Lesotho, growing into adulthood in South Africa. You learn about all the tragedies she lived through and also the wonderful time she had with her family. Even though she had a very difficult life, she always had a positive outlook on life. The most wonderful thing about the purchase of this book is that half the proceeds go straight back to Mpho and her family.
This book has many great qualities, one being the length of the chapters. Most of the chapters in the book are three to eight pages long, which makes for very easy reading. Each chapter is like a book in itself, a chapter in her life, so you can read one chapter in about ten minutes and set the book down and come back two to three days later and never feel like you missed anything. The chapters are titled in a very clever manner. The title does not lead you to believe that the chapter is about something else. By reading the chapter titles you know exactly what the chapter is going to be about. For example Chapter three is titled, "The Child is Burning!" This chapter tells about the time Mpho caught on fire in her grandmother's house and could not get any help from her grandmother to put the fire out. Once she tells you the story, the chapter ends, and you move on to another chapter in her life.
There are very few difficult aspects to this book. Keeping the characters situated was the most difficult. Mpho's name changes in the book. In southern Africa, where she is from, the women change their first name when they get married. I did not realize this at first so it was difficult to grasp who the story was about. She has many children throughout the book that pass away, and several who live, and it is hard to tell which ones are alive and which ones have passed. There are many people that she talks about in the story, and their names are hard to remember because they are hard to pronounce, like Valeria `M'amahlaku Sekobi Lillane (p.3). Some times, Mpho creates suspense in one chapter and does not tell you what happens until many chapters later. This leaves you wondering, but at the same time makes you not want to put the book down until you learn what happened. For example, in Chapter 11, "Khotso, Pula, Nala," she mentions, "My husband was still alive..." (p.63), but she does not tell you until many chapters later what happened to him. Also, in Chapter 15, page 86 she talks about Joseph killing her children, but you don't know how he did that, or which children he killed, until Chapter 18, "Joseph Kills My Three Boys" (p.107).
Many people in the United States of America think that they have it bad, but until you read about a different culture you never realize that you have such a comfortable life. For example, we take reading and leisure time for granted, but Mpho says, "I'm telling stories for children and grown people in other places, because I want people who know how to read and have time to read, to know something about the Basotho - how we used to live and how we live now, how poor we are, and how we are living together in this place called Lesotho." We are not sold or taken into a marriage when we turn eighteen years of age, but for Mpho, that is what happens in her culture. She was lucky to fall in love with the boy she married, even though she was technically bought from her father by her husband's family. They did take her without her family knowing, but they sent word to her family that same day that she was not kidnapped, that they had taken her to get married. No matter how bad you have had it in your life, you soon realize that your worst day was one of Mpho's best. She leaves you with a sense that you can do anything and overcome any obstacles that might cross the path of your life. When you are having a bad day you can think back to something you read in the story and it some how gives you the strength to go on.
Mpho states: "I'm telling stories for Basotho like my grandchildren, who read books but don't know the old ways of their own people. If they can read these stories, maybe it will teach them where they come from. And maybe I can help them to learn English, and they can find work." I recommend this book to anyone who wants to travel to a different place but doesn't have the time or money to. The way the story is told, you feel as if you are there, looking Mpho in her big round marble-like eyes, listening to the stories she tells. If you cannot quite picture the places she is talking about, there are eight pages of pictures to help you visualize what she is talking about. This special touch makes the book more personal than the ordinary autobiography. It makes you feel like Mpho is really speaking to you personally and wants you to feel the pain and joy that she felt. If you can't grasp the meaning of the African words described in the text, there is a glossary at the very end with every African word listed in alphabetical order with the definition. You do not have to have a lot of time to read this book. I am a full time student with a job and I had the time to read it.

Singing Away The Hunger, is an account of Mpho 'M'atsepo Nthunya's experiences in Africa. Born in Lesotho in 1930, she gives a detailed insight into the types of dress, people, jobs, and attitudes that were common during that Era. She gives us a grave look into her experiences with the racism present during the South African apartheid on a first-hand basis. She begins the novel in a very structured time line she starts retelling her story as a young girl, who lives with her very poor mother, who is a borderline religious zealot. Even going so far as to tell Mpho's brother Sephefu, " You must not give Mpho anything. God will feed her. She will not die" (p. 14). She continues the time line describing her experiences as she matures from a girl into a young woman, and the somewhat comical "kidnapping" that lead to her double-marriage to her husband Alexis (pp. 30-33). Keeping the same structured storytelling, she recalls stories about how she went from being a prominent herder (p.63) to a poor woman after the death of her husband, barely able to provide for her children on the meager amount of pay she was making working for the University or in people's homes as a type of live-in maid (pp.118-132).

I liked the unrelenting manner in which taboo and "private" information was easily given and spoken about as an accepted as a way of life. Mpho did not censor her words or the situations in any way. Her life story was presented as raw, emotional, and unrelenting. The editor had one simple goal in sight, to get Mpho's story across honestly and starkly, in order to make a lasting impression on all who read Mpho's book. I was also thrilled with the fact that the editor used the foreword to stress this point. That this novel is Mpho's and that it is Mpho's story to tell.

The only critique I have of the book is that it tends to jump around a bit. Mpho will introduce a topic but not fully explain it until later in the novel when the topic is reintroduced and intertwined with a second topic she is discussing, only to then later tie up the loose ends of both topics. This in no way draws away from the character and telling of the story, it is more of a personal annoyance.

Singing Away The Hunger, is a must read book that I have already recommended to so many friends and colleagues. It is one of the most riveting, attention-keeping autobiographies that I have read to date. It gives incite into the various cultures and customs present in early-mid 1900s Africa . A very intelligent woman, Mpho speaks eight languages and has the ability to relay her stories in vivid detail. Often as I was reading the book, I would have no trouble picturing and imagining Mpho's surroundings or actions because she has a great gift of being able to narrate a story in such a way that the reader is sucked in. All the trouble and struggles Mpho experiences, only seem to increase her internal strength and drive, while leaving her with an appreciation for the tough life she has had to live through, and leaving the reader with the knowledge that someone will always,always,always have it much worse than you do. This book reminds me that even on the worst day, of the worst week, of the worst month, of the worst year of my life, that I am infinitely more well off than massive percentage of people on Earth, and that I should be grateful for all the opportunities and privileges that I possess. This book truly is as Mpho refers to it, a mohlolo, a miracle/wonder.

Mpho `M'Atsepo Nthunya narrates her life story to her American friend and Editor Kathryn Kendall. Mpho is a Lesothosian woman of seventy years,who has a story that she desires to be made known to her people and others. The general trend throughout the autobiography is economic struggle. As a child Mpho wore a sack as a dress, ate grass, and endured the cruelty of her grandmother. In her adult years she dealt with an evil brother in-law, lost of property, bouts of unemployment, and a myriad of deaths. Throughout her life she struggled to require the needed resources for herself. Mpho finds stable employment, which is something that is hard to obtain for women. While in school, Mpho learned many languages including English, which allowed her to translate her story to Kendall. Mpho dropped out of school early and married Alexis and went to live in the Maluti Mountains. While in the mountains Mpho bore five children, all of whom survived to adulthood. Mpho lived well in the mountains because Alexis had a good job in the city and would send her money; those around her deemed her rich. But when Alexis died, Mpho is left to take care of her five children on her own and those in her house. Sometime later, Mpho moved to the city and went through a plethora of jobs until she found work as a maid at a University guest house. It was at this place that Kendall and Mpho met and became good friends. By the time Mpho writes this book she has experienced the deaths of her mother, multiple in-laws, three sons, and is struggling to provide for her nine grandchildren and daughter-in-law.
The autobiography is extraordinary because it is created by a woman with only a fifth grade education among people who are generally illiterate. As the eldest of her family, Mpho is responsible for the passing down of history, culture, and stories. Which makes her exceptionally qualified to ornate her life story in an understandable way. A discrepancy maybe present because Kendall was the one who asked the questions to Mpho, the questions may have been shaped by Kendall's experiences or presumed knowledge of native life. Also, Mpho may have shaped her answers in a way that she believed her audience would like, emphasizing some things while leaving out other things. During the making of the book Mpho was present to instruct Kendall on how to edit her book. Though the author spoke English, she did verbalize that it was easier to tell the story in her native tongue, thus she could not express herself to the extent she desired. It would have been better if the writing style was not so scattered, the book was written in a quasi- chronological format. Throughout the book is sprinkled flashback moments that in my opinion disrupts the flow of the chapter and makes it difficult to map out Mpho's life. Yet still, her story was so compelling and interesting to me that I went on a search for the editor to express to her personally how much I enjoyed Mpho's autobiography.

If you are reading this review, the chances are you've never slept in a rondavel, drinken joala, or visited a sangoma. You may have a motsoalle, but you probably didn't know what to call her.

This autobiographical book of stories by a Bathoso woman is absorbing and entertaining, well worth the read on that basis alone. A true and honest look at Lethoso culture as it was and is experienced by one woman is an unexpected bonus.

Thanks to M'e Mpho for telling her stories and to Limakasto for bringing them to us.

This book is told from a Basotho woman's perspective. Its made up of a series of short stories about the author's life. The stories follow no chronological order because the author doesn't feel they need to. In Africa, there are many oral story tellers who pass on their stories to generation after generation. Think of this as a written version of this woman's family stories. Every story is unique and reveals a great deal about the culture of the Basotho people. If you are curious about the lives of African women, particularly the Basothos, I would recommend this book. This woman suffers through many hardships such as poverty, hunger, the death of many members of her family, and the horrible treatment her and her people receive from the South African police. However, she is strong and able to survive a lifetime of tough experiences. Truly a great read.