Rape
The story is set in Zimbabwe in 1977. Civil war is still raging. Mazvita leaves her village after being raped by a soldier. She is working on a tobacco farm and is the girlfriend of one of the other workers, Nyenyedzi.

But Mazvita lacks freedom, she will no longer stay the day laborer. Since Nyenyedzi wants to stay on the farm and work with the soil, Mazvita must go alone to the big city Harari to find freedom and security from war.

Find freedom in the big city
In the city she immediately meets Joel, who’s offering her a life in his house. After a while Mazvita gives birth to a child who is not Joels, and he becomes angry and throws her out on the street.

Now Mazvita don’t know what to do. How is she to find freedom and security for her and her baby, without a roof over their heads and as a single mother ?


Destiny of a woman
It is a heartbreaking tale of a womans fate, told from Mazvitas point-of-view, without much dialogue and external action. The emphasis is on the protagonist’s feelings and thoughts, and it is really well told.

The book is short, consisting of 32 short chapters, with few locations and it’s not told linearly. We have to go to the last chapter before the story is tied together, and as a reader you understand everything you have read.

A great little novel that I would recommend to others.

The author Yvonne Vera is unfortunately dead. See her biography here.

Yvonne Vera: Without name. Wheel Publishing, 1996 (1994). Translated by Finn Holten Hansen.


Voldtægten
Vi er i Zimbabwe i 1977. Borgerkrigen hærger stadig. Mazvita forlader sin landsby efter at være voldtaget af en soldat. Hun tager arbejde på en tobaksfarm og er kærester med en af de andre arbejdere, Nyenyedzi.

Men Mazvita savner friheden, hun vil ikke længere være daglejer. Da Nyenyedzi vil blive på gården og arbejde med jorden, må Mazvita selv tage til storbyen Harari for at finde friheden og trygheden fra krigen.


Søg friheden i storbyen
I byen møder hun straks Joel, der tilbyder hende et liv i sit hus. Da Mazvita føder et barn, der ikke er Joels, bliver han vred og smider hende på porten.

Nu ved Mazvita ikke hvad hun skal gøre. Hvordan skal hun nu, uden tag over hovedet og som alenemor, finde frihed og tryghed?


Hudløs kvindeskæbne
Det er en hudløs fortælling om en kvindeskæbne, sikkert fortalt fra Mazvitas point-of-view, uden megen dialog og ydre handling. Vægten er lagt på hovedpersonens følelser og tanker, og det er rigtig godt fortalt.

Bogen er kort, består af 32 korte kapitler, har få lokationer og er ikke lineært fortalt. Vi skal næsten hen i sidste kapitel før historien bindes sammen, og man som læser forstår alt man har læst.

En rigtig god lille roman, som jeg gerne vil anbefale andre.

Forfatteren Yvonne Vera er desværre død. Se hendes biografi her.

Yvonne Vera: Uden navn. Forlaget Hjulet, 1996 (1994). Oversat af Finn Holten Hansen.