Safe Houses Rose Zwi Spinifex 1993 From Spinifex: Set against the escalating violence of the last years of the Apartheid regime, Safe Houses tells the story of three families – the Sibiyas, the Singers, the Sterns – who are inextricably bound by love and hate, hope and betrayal. Ruth and Lola are drawn into the struggle against…
So Long A Letter Mariama Bâ Les Nouvelles Éditions Africaines du Sénéga 1979 From Wikipedia: So Long a Letter (French: Une si longue lettre) is a semi-autobiographical epistolary novel originally written in French by the Senegalese writer Mariama Bâ. Its theme is the condition of women in Western African society. So Long a Letter, Mariama Bâ’s first novel, is literally written…
Second Class Citizen Buchi Emecheta Allison & Busby 1974 From Wikipedia: Second Class Citizen is a 1974 novel by Nigerian writer Buchi Emecheta. A poignant story of a resourceful Nigerian woman who overcomes strict tribal domination of women and countless setbacks to achieve an independent life for herself and her children, the novel is often…
Maru Bessie Head McCall Publishing Company 1971 An African love story and statement on racial & tribal prejudice, set in mid-twentieth century Botswana. An orphaned Masarwa girl comes to Dilepe to teach, only to discover that in this remote Botswana village her people are treated as outcasts. In the love story and intrigue that follow,…
Coming to Birth Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye Virago 1987 In this quietly powerful and eminently readable novel, Kenyan writer Marjorie Macgoye deftly interweaves the story of one young woman’s tumultuous coming of age with the history of a nation emerging from colonialism. At the age of sixteen, Paulina leaves her small village in western Kenya to…
A Small Place Jamaica Kincaid Virago 1988 From Wikipedia: A Small Place is a 1988 work of creative nonfiction published by Jamaica Kincaid. A book-length essay drawing on Kincaid’s experiences growing up in Antigua, it can be read as an indictment of the Antiguan government, the tourist industry and Antigua’s British colonial legacy. But some natives–most natives in the world–cannot go anywhere. They…
Arrival of the Snake-Woman and Other Stories Olive Senior Longman 1989 Arrival of the Snake-Woman by Jamaican-born Olive Senior narrates the story of an isolated child who is coming to terms with the strange, harsh ways of the adult world. From Encyclopedia.com: In the story, “snake-woman” is the name given by black Jamaicans to young…
I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem Maryse Condé Mercure de France 1986 This wild and entertaining novel expands on the true story of the West Indian slave Tituba, who was accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, arrested in 1692, and forgotten in jail until the general amnesty for witches two years later. Maryse Condé brings…
Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys WW Norton & Company 1966 From Wikipedia: Wide Sargasso Sea is a 1966 novel by Dominica-born British author Jean Rhys. It is a feminist and anti-colonial response to Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre (1847), describing the background to Mr. Rochester’s marriage from the point-of-view of his mad wife Antoinette Cosway, a Creole heiress. Antoinette Cosway is Rhys’ version of…
Watchers and Seekers: Creative Writing by Black Women in Britain Rhonda Cobham and Merle Collins The Women’s Press 1987 This book is an anthology of some of the most exciting work being written and performed by Black women in Britain. Poems and short stories by African and Asian women, the collection casts an incisive eye…
