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Book review
The Boy Next Door by Irene Sabatini
Words: Tricia Wombell
The Boy Next Door by Irene Sabatini
Last month Irene Sabatini won the Orange Award for New Writers, with this, her debut novel. It is a brilliant read. And so she joins the ranks of the young black African writers who are leading the way in defining contemporary literature around the world.
She is joining excellent company, when you consider her startlingly talented fellow Zimbabweans, Petina Gappah and Brian Chikwava, as well as the host of creative and innovative Nigerian writers. The Boy Next Door is an inter-racial love story and family mystery set in pre-and post-independent Zimbabwe and shows what the nation has lost through the belligerent leadership of President Mugabe.
I admire the way that Sabatini shows her love of the country through her tense characters and the descriptions of the countryside and the cities are stunning, the rapid destruction of Bulawayo in particular, is very upsetting. She mixes topics such as an analysis of the Lion King, or mentions of jazz and soul singers with trials of life in modern-day Zimbabwe in a way that makes you feel for the lead protagonists and their families.
Irene Sabatini will be speaking about her book at the Institute of Education's Alumni event on the 14 July, details at www.ioe.ac.uk
Tricia Wombell's blog Black Book News can be found at www.tricia-blackbooknews.com
The Boy Next Door by Irene Sabatini
Words: Tricia Wombell
The Boy Next Door by Irene Sabatini
She is joining excellent company, when you consider her startlingly talented fellow Zimbabweans, Petina Gappah and Brian Chikwava, as well as the host of creative and innovative Nigerian writers. The Boy Next Door is an inter-racial love story and family mystery set in pre-and post-independent Zimbabwe and shows what the nation has lost through the belligerent leadership of President Mugabe.
I admire the way that Sabatini shows her love of the country through her tense characters and the descriptions of the countryside and the cities are stunning, the rapid destruction of Bulawayo in particular, is very upsetting. She mixes topics such as an analysis of the Lion King, or mentions of jazz and soul singers with trials of life in modern-day Zimbabwe in a way that makes you feel for the lead protagonists and their families.
Irene Sabatini will be speaking about her book at the Institute of Education's Alumni event on the 14 July, details at www.ioe.ac.uk
Tricia Wombell's blog Black Book News can be found at www.tricia-blackbooknews.com