? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Race, class, gender and cultural change are only a few of the themes dramatized in Nervous Conditionsby Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangrembga. This prize-winning work showcases women's empowerment against the backdrop of decolonization in Zimbabwe, two decades prior to the nation's independence and the end of white minority rule. The main character, Tambu, is offered the chance to live with her uncle Babamukuru's family in England and further her education, taking the place of her brother Nhamo who has recently passed away. Tambu’s way of handling the culture change she goes through as she starts to live with Babamukuru’s family is fascinating. Follow up the read with The Book of Not and This Mournable Body, the second and third books in this beautifully-written trilogy.