The Mending Season

by Kagiso Lesego Molope

Set in South Africa, it's 1990 and thirteen-year-old Tshidiso lives with her three aunts at number 4, Mabele Street. Feared for their eccentricity, their house is known as the home of the witches, and parents don't allow their children to visit Tshidiso. She spends her free time hiding in a lemon tree while she eavesdrops on the neighbours to hear the township gossip. An unexpected opportunity to attend a private, multi-racial convent in the city throws Tshidiso into a new world of fancy cars, expensive clothes and proper accents. Through trial and error, Tshidiso learns to adapt to this new environment and gains courage and respect when she has to deal with the consequences of a racial incident on the netball court.

Genres: Africa

127 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Antje · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautifully written story by Kagiso Lesego Molope! I just enjoyed reading it from the first to the last page and felt a kind of disappointment when I finished it. The end was perfect and so was the length of the story. But I did not want to leave Tshidiso - the thirteen-year-old first-person-narrator. I would have liked to stay with her a longer period of time to hear more of her experiences during the development in South Africa after Nelson Mandela was released from prison, after the free elections in 1994 and so on. I love the way the author created a fictional-true story about a sad issue in South African's history. It's not about crime and punishment or revenge. It's rather the attempt to understand why people react as they do, no matter if they are black, coloured or white. It's an human story seasoned with a healthy optimism and a sunny heart. - I can't wait for more novels like that.

[O'Train Disene · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading her novel: 'Dancing In The Dust', I had to look thoroughly in the library for her other works and guess what, I stumbled across this phenomenon work of art.

Kagiso sewed the feeling of typical township of South Africa together with her creativity to produce this marvellous book, 'The Mending Season'

Led by an ordinary girl who is caught up between two worlds. One of privileges, extraordinary and upper class and one of not-so-much privileged, ordinary and boring township. Tshidiso is a young girl who grew up in a strange family. Her family is isolated from the whole neighbourhood and their house is benchmarked as the house of the witches.

Just like any growing person, she wants to go out there and experience childhood like any other children but that's nearly impossible, for her family is so rigid that they won't let her to.

Growing up having her special secret place, this enabled Tshidiso to know almost everything about everyone in the neighbourhood. She knew so much that you'd think she was hiding in the thin air and listening to your conversations. Tshidiso is moulded by three people whom she sees as her parents. Those people are Mmamane Lesedi, Mmamane Malebone and Mmamane Mabatho.

Things escalates to worse when she is told by her three loving parents that she will be enrolling at the model C school. Facing challenges of adapting, Tshidiso is quite and taking mental notes of what and not to do at her new school.

When she thinks things could not get any worse, something bad happens in the netball court. This divides the whole school, pupils and teachers included are forced to choose sides!

I rate this book a full five stars and applause for the creativity and penmanship of the author. Anyone from South Africa will and can relate to this story. Grab a copy and enjoy this breathtaking story!