by Cherie Jones
First published 2004
Delores watches herself disappear piece by piece. Her typing slows at work. She stops greeting colleagues. Soon she becomes Queen Mapusa, walking barefoot as a proud child of Africa and mother of civilization. Nearby, Etheline Elvira Ransom lies in bed with scissors hidden beneath her, planning revenge on her bullying husband. Odetta, fifty-four and married with children, talks herself through the day of her secret abortion. The Burning Bush women gather to smoke cigars and braid each other's wild red hair, but the plaits refuse to hold. The hair itself whispers that somewhere a Bush woman dies. These women move between two worlds. Nanan shares African folk wisdom passed down from ancestors to granddaughter. Meanwhile, mothers offer different advice about respectability and proper behavior. The stories shift between magical transformations and everyday struggles, capturing women who must choose between the wisdom of their heritage and the demands of colonial society.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, african-literature, contemporary
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, magical-realism
Setting: Africa
Period: 20th-century
184 pages · Paperback · Peepal Tree Press Ltd.
Content warnings: colonialism, racism