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Zenzele

A Letter for My Daughter

Written as a letter from a Zimbabwean mother to her daughter, a student at Harvard, Zenzele evokes the moving story of a mother reaching out to her daughter to share the lessons life has taught her and bring the two closer than ever before. Interweaving history and memories, disappointments and dreams, the novel tells the tales of Zimbabwe’s struggle for independence and the men and women who shaped it: Zenzele’s father, an outspoken activist lawyer; her aunt, a schoolteacher by day and secret guerrilla fighter by night; and her cousin, a maid and a spy.

Rich with insight, history, and philosophy, Zenzele is a powerful and compelling story that is both revolutionary and revelatory – the story of one life that poignantly speaks of all lives.

'Spirited tales... a rich impression of the warmth and color of Zimbabwean family life, a view of the traumas of the struggle for independence through a series of sharp vignettes."

Penelope Lively, New York Times

About J. Nozipo Maraire

J. Nozipo Maraire is a doctor and a writer. She was born in Zimbabwe in 1966, where she lived until she was 18, and moved to the United States to study at Harvard University. Her first novel Zenzele was a 1996 New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and has been translated into fourteen languages Maraire currently lives in Zimbabwe with her family.
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