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The Lovers
These nineteen short stories from renowned author Bessie Head touch on gender, religion, and authority in Southern Africa before and after independence. Written throughout the 1960s and 70s, this newly expanded collection includes many of Head's previously unavailable stories, collected here for the first time.
'I am building a stairway to the stars. I have the authority to take the whole of mankind up there with me. That is why I write.'
In the collection's title story, 'The Lovers', Bessie Head captures the legendary tale of two young villagers caught in a society that values custom and arranged marriages above true love. Tender in their devotion and brave in their questioning of tradition, the couple are forced to rise above the threat of violent retribution in order to make their love last...
Through these nineteen remarkable stories, Head demonstrates her prowess as a story-teller, exploring the ways in which change can manifest as an unwanted invasion of culture or a powerful form of protest.
From the explosion of colonial expansion to the perceived danger of a woman's menstrual cycle, these stories tackle the emotional and political climate of Southern Africa with vibrant intelligence.
With an introduction by Stephen Gray.
'I am building a stairway to the stars. I have the authority to take the whole of mankind up there with me. That is why I write.'
In the collection's title story, 'The Lovers', Bessie Head captures the legendary tale of two young villagers caught in a society that values custom and arranged marriages above true love. Tender in their devotion and brave in their questioning of tradition, the couple are forced to rise above the threat of violent retribution in order to make their love last...
Through these nineteen remarkable stories, Head demonstrates her prowess as a story-teller, exploring the ways in which change can manifest as an unwanted invasion of culture or a powerful form of protest.
From the explosion of colonial expansion to the perceived danger of a woman's menstrual cycle, these stories tackle the emotional and political climate of Southern Africa with vibrant intelligence.
With an introduction by Stephen Gray.
- GenresAfrican Literature
226 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2023
3 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Bessie Head
48 books205 followersBessie Emery Head, though born in South Africa, is usually considered Botswana's most influential writer.
Bessie Emery Head was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, the child of a wealthy white South African woman and a black servant when interracial relationships were illegal in South Africa. It was claimed that her mother was mentally ill so that she could be sent to a quiet location to give birth to Bessie without the neighbours knowing. However, the exact circumstances are disputed, and some of Bessie Head's comments, though often quoted as straight autobiography, are in fact from fictionalized settings.
In the 1950s and '60s she was a teacher, then a journalist for the South African magazine Drum. In 1964 she moved to Botswana (then still the Bechuanaland Protectorate) as a refugee, having been peripherally involved with Pan-African politics. It would take 15 years for Head to obtain Botswana citizenship. Head settled in Serowe, the largest of Botswana's "villages" (i.e. traditional settlements as opposed to settler towns). Serowe was famous both for its historical importance, as capital of the Bamangwato people, and for the experimental Swaneng school of Patrick van Rensburg. The deposed chief of the Bamangwato, Seretse Khama, was soon to become the first President of independent Botswana.
Her early death in 1986 (aged 48) from hepatitis came just at the point where she was starting to achieve recognition as a writer and was no longer so desperately poor.
Bessie Emery Head was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, the child of a wealthy white South African woman and a black servant when interracial relationships were illegal in South Africa. It was claimed that her mother was mentally ill so that she could be sent to a quiet location to give birth to Bessie without the neighbours knowing. However, the exact circumstances are disputed, and some of Bessie Head's comments, though often quoted as straight autobiography, are in fact from fictionalized settings.
In the 1950s and '60s she was a teacher, then a journalist for the South African magazine Drum. In 1964 she moved to Botswana (then still the Bechuanaland Protectorate) as a refugee, having been peripherally involved with Pan-African politics. It would take 15 years for Head to obtain Botswana citizenship. Head settled in Serowe, the largest of Botswana's "villages" (i.e. traditional settlements as opposed to settler towns). Serowe was famous both for its historical importance, as capital of the Bamangwato people, and for the experimental Swaneng school of Patrick van Rensburg. The deposed chief of the Bamangwato, Seretse Khama, was soon to become the first President of independent Botswana.
Her early death in 1986 (aged 48) from hepatitis came just at the point where she was starting to achieve recognition as a writer and was no longer so desperately poor.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 22, 2021
What a gripping yet painful story.
February 14, 2025
An enjoyable collection of short stories... with a few that might make your vein throb, depending on who you are.
July 14, 2025
Not my favourite Bessie Head, but I really liked these three stories:
• Summer Sun
• Property
• Son of the Soil (potted history of South Africa)
• Summer Sun
• Property
• Son of the Soil (potted history of South Africa)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews