This September Sun

by Bryony Rheam

This September Sun is a chronicle of the lives of two women, the romantic Evelyn and her granddaughter Ellie. Growing up in post-Independence Zimbabwe, Ellie yearns for a life beyond the confines of small town Bulawayo, a wish that eventually comes true when she moves to the United Kingdom. However, life there is not all she dreamed it to be, but it is the murder of her grandmother that eventually brings her back home and forces her to face some hard home truths through the unravelling of long-concealed family secrets.

Genres: Africa, Zimbabwe, Fiction, Historical Fiction

376 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2009

Reviews

[Fatimah AlZohairy]

تبدأ القصة طفلة و من ثم مراهقة و من ثم إمرأة ترفض مواجهة الألم.
رسائل صادقة جدا من شابة و امرأة متزوجة و إمرأة كهلة عن رحلتها. و تشوف كل أنواع الحب في هذه الرسائل و لا تستطيع إلا أن تصدقها كلها.

[Calzean]

A very slow moving story revolving around Ellie and her grandmother. In the first half, Ellie grows up in the new Zimbabwe. She is educated in England and returns to Zimbabwe when her Gran dies. The second half is a lot of diary and letters written by Gran and a couple of skeletons in the closet. Just did not grab me.

[Tamara]

I started reading this book somewhat skeptically - but I have to say that it is very well written and gives some very interesting insight to the changing face of Rhodesia and then Zimbabwe. Not only did her descriptions of Bulawayo bring the town to life in my mind, but I could see myself in the comments that she makes about young "modern" white Zimbabweans... certainly food for thought.

[Nadia]

عمل رائع يغوص بنا في زيمبابوي البيضاء مع عائلة إيلي : الجدة ايفي المرأة الحيوية ذات ماض غامض تكتشفه ايلي بعد وفاة الجدة و عبر رسائل و مذكرات نكتشف معها أيضا أسرارا عائلية و علاقات متشابكة.

[Laura]

I enjoyed references to Zimbabwe and Bulawayo in this book, as well as the chapter where Ellie, the main character, reflects on being a Zimbabwean abroad. The book is divided into two main parts, life in Zim, life in London. I preferred her first section, her coming of age and the stories of her grandmother. However, the diary entries are sometimes long, descriptive and only serve as a literary ruse to move the plot forward. I feel this book could have been a third shorter. However, there are some very nice excerpts, the writing flows, and it is overall a pleasant read.

[Vivien]

The main character turned from a miserable child to a miserable adult who needed a good kick up the back-side. Her grandmother's story was more interesting although she made some very dubious life choices. The changes in Zimbabwe since independence were skimmed over and the characters not very likeable so don't bother.

[Sarah]

I really enjoyed this book and its evocations of Zimbabwe pre and post Independence. The book really took off for me half way through, I can't say why without spoiling it for others. Overall a wonderful description of the strong and loving relationship between a grandmother and her granddaughter (the author), also a strong and compelling love story however there were aspects that became apparent towards the end that it was more controlling and unequal than I had imagined. Sorry, difficult to write what one thinks without giving things away!

[Wim]

Beautiful novel about growing up as a white Zimbabwean after independence, Bryony Rheam sketches a family tragedy with webs of lies, secrets and mysteries that slowly being discovered by Ellie, the protagonist.

[Sue Lewis]

A compelling read - an intricate family history with a brilliant story arc that is only resolved in the final stages. It's like having a massive colourful jigsaw with all the pieces falling into place at the end. Loved it.

[Alison Smith]

Because the novel is set in my old home town of Bulawayo, where I spent 31 years, I pounced on the book, but ... I enjoyed the nostalgia trip, familiar names, places, events. But the novel itself? theme is Family Secrets and their slow revelation. The author needed a good editor. The story was cumbersome, and there were too many revelatory diary sections. Nice try, BR.

[Rawan]

رواية لطيفة عن تلك اللحظات اللامثالية في حياتنا ، بالنسبة لأحدهم قد تعني لحظة ندم بعد قول شيء تافه ، و لآخر ليست سوى لحظة صمت صاخبة

[Carol Workman]

A very slow read!

[Wafaa Elsaeed]

.تحتوي ع فلسفة روحانية عميقة

[Nicky]

This book takes a little while to get to the meat of the story, but the first part, going through Ellie's early life and dropping clues about the grandmother's murder (not a spoiler, it's in the book blurb) is interesting in its own way and full of family drama that all starts to make much more sense as the story progresses.

As someone far away and disconnected from my own family and home country, I loved the way Bryony handles themes of going away and coming back and the way things change. This is as much a coming-of-age story for Zimbabwe as for Ellie.

It breaks chronology quite a bit in the second half, so you have to keep a close eye on the dates, but it allows for a slow unroll of truth and motive, very much like one of the mysteries Ellie's grandmother would have loved.

[Marja]

I love the way books allow you to travel places you've never been to and most likely will never travel to. I enjoyed this trip to Zimbabwe with the company of two ladies, Ellie and her grandmother Evelyn. The story gave me a lot to think about.

[Predrag]

Very well written. The author introduced her book in person at the Zimbabwe Academy of Music in Bulawayo. Reminiscences and personal search of a young lady born and raised in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

[Cynthia Sillitoe]

Well-written and interesting, but a little fragmented.

[Lisa]

Not my type of read, I expected a little more

[Linda]

Boring