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THE HAIRDRESSER OF HARARE

Name: THE HAIRDRESSER OF HARARE
Author: Tendai Huchu
ISBN: 978-0-8214-2163-5

by Tendai Huchu ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2015

Though at times predictable, this touching debut should not be overlooked.

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An uncompromising glimpse into contemporary Zimbabwe through the eyes of a young hairdresser.

This sharp, entertaining, and thoughtful debut is rife with sociopolitical commentary but never loses its humanity. Vimbai, a proud single mother in her mid-20s and the novel’s narrator, is the best hairdresser at Khumalo Hair and Beauty Treatment Salon until a charming and mysterious 22-year-old named Dumisami shows up to fill a vacancy. Though Mrs K, the salon’s owner, is initially skeptical about hiring the young man (“A male hairdresser, who’d ever heard of such a thing?”), Dumi quickly becomes the new favorite of both the boss and the clientele, much to Vimbai’s dismay: “To be dispensable is a woman’s worst nightmare and I was beginning to live it.” Despite this animosity, when Vimbai learns that Dumi is broke and looking for a place to live, she offers to let him rent the extra room in her home. Their relationship takes an unconventional route, and readers might find themselves a few frustrating steps ahead of Vimbai’s belated realizations, especially near the end. Through deceptively simple observations and plain prose, Huchu exposes readers to issues of classism, racism, and homophobia without ever coming across as preachy or heavy-handed. Old and new clash—think Mahfouz’s Midaq Alley—but the novel remains steadfast in its mission to show not tell and keeps its complex cast of characters at its core. The political landscape and climate of the Mugabe regime is ever present without overpowering the narrative and should inspire curious readers to do a little research of their own.

Though at times predictable, this touching debut should not be overlooked.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-8214-2163-5

Page Count: 198

Publisher: Ohio Univ.

Review Posted Online: June 3, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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BETWEEN SISTERS

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2003

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...

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Sisters in and out of love.

Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.

Pub Date: May 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-345-45073-6

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

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A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.