Harare North (Paperback)

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.

General

Imprint:	Vintage
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	April 2010
First published:	2011
Authors:	Brian Chikwava
Dimensions:	198 x 129 x 15mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	230
ISBN-13:	978-0-09-952675-9
Categories:	Books > Fiction > General & literary fiction > Modern fiction
LSN:	0-09-952675-1
Barcode:	9780099526759

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