A Woman Alone by Bessie Head

by Bessie Head

A collection of autobiographical writings, sketches, and essays that covers the entire span of Bessie Head's creative life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Africa, Botswana, Essays, Autobiography, African Literature, South Africa

Paperback

First published October 11, 1990

About the author

Bessie 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.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rarely do I finish a book with a feeling of profound love for the author. Our lives just missed overlapping, but I wish I could have known her. Her reverence for the simplicity of village life in Botswana is an inspiration. I shall return to her work whenever I find it.

[Raul · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The least I can ever say for myself is that I forcefully created for myself, under extremely hostile conditions, my ideal life.”

I've felt a certain affinity and admiration for Bessie Head ever since I first read her work and learned about her life. Her tragic beginnings, her tenacity and courage given the circumstances she lived and worked in, the tragic end of her life, are difficult not to arouse some sense of tenderness for her. These pieces here aren't as autobiographical as the edition of the book I was reading suggested. While her thoughts on her life and the conditions she lived in (both in South Africa and later in exile in Botswana) are recorded, they're mostly reportage of her environment than focus on her own life. They still make for a fascinating read as she shares her aims for certain books, reviews South African artists, and her protests against the apartheid system in South Africa. That together with her genuine love for people, literature, and art made this a good read.

[Sincerae Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Batswana writer (born in South Africa) Bessie Head had a blog the content of this book would make up an exceptional blog, but really her writings are too good for a blog, in my humble opinion. This is a wonderful chronological collection of Bessie Head's reflections on life containing stories on Southern Africa, the history of South and Southern Africa and Botswana, village life, apartheid, racism, colonialism, the art of writing,the treatment of women in Botswana, and even her impressions on when she visited an American mid-Western town. This book is the beautiful, poetic, and subtle reflections of a woman who faced an incredibly difficult life from the very outset but still in the face of it could see the beauty of existence and would remain cautiously optimistic. Bessie Head is indeed one of Africa's greatest writers and from my readings over the years, she was one of the great writers of the 20th century

[Sookie]

Bessie Head opens up in A woman alone about her experiences with apartheid and finding herself seeking peace in Botswana. In this collection of her personal writings, she talks about the time she spent in South Africa and its turbulent times. Her words come from experience and that of a seasoned observer of culture. It has always been evident in her books - Maru, especially but since there is no fictional aspect in these writings, it almost takes shape of conversations one would have with their friend.

[Blessing Ugwu-John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tried to get into Bessie Head’s books a while back and found them to be very intimidating. After reading this book I realized that it was simply because I lacked the proper context with which to interpret the themes.

It therefore follows that offers a lot of insight into the things that inspired Bessie and her mindset at the time she was writing these books. IMO, everyone who wants to get into Bessie Head’s fictional works should read this first.

A large part of the book also covers her world view on politics and the society touching on culture, religion, womanism, racism and oppression in Southern African countries especially South Africa and Botswana.

I love that the collection is well written and gorgeously curated. Her arguments are rational, illuminating and the conclusions (where there are any) are logical and accommodating.

[Katherine Hoogesteyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Bessie Head’s writing through searching for books by South African and Botswanan authors, as she was both, and she is a great example of why I love autobiographical writings. Bessie was born under apartheid, with what she calls a lack of personal history, no sense of who she was and where she came from. Apartheid was (and remains) a brutal reality for black South Africans, and led to her exile to a village in Botswana. There, Bessie fought to find peace and establish roots in African soil. Through her writings I was able to learn about the history of these two countries, of Africa, and about a woman who lived a very difficult life but found catharsis through incisive and beautiful writing. I think she provides a remarkable example of why it is important to use reading as a tool for learning, expanding, and appreciating our world.

“I need a quiet backwater and a sense of living as though I am barely alive on the earth, treading a small, careful pathway through life”

“[…] Tell them how natural, sensible, normal is human kindness. Tell them, those who judge my country, Africa, by gain and greed, that the gods walk about her barefoot with no ermine and gold-studded cloaks”

[Chema Caballero · Rating 2 out of 5]

Una recopilación de textos de Bessie Head ordenados cronológicamente que permite acercarse a algunos de los temas que atraviesan la obra de la escritora botsuana y, al mismo tiempo, conocer detalles de su vida y de su evolución personal.
Quizá lo más interesante del volumen sea precisamente ese recorrido biográfico, especialmente su relación con Sudáfrica y el proceso que la llevó a identificarse con su nuevo país, Botsuana. En esos textos aparecen las experiencias de una mujer marcada por el desarraigo, la búsqueda de pertenencia y la necesidad de encontrar un lugar propio.
La lectura permite así descubrir algunos de los elementos que alimentaron su literatura y comprender mejor la trayectoria de una de las voces más singulares de la narrativa africana del siglo XX. Sin embargo, más allá de ese interés documental y biográfico, la recopilación aporta poco al lector que ya conozca la obra de Bessie Head. Un libro útil para acercarse a la autora, pero de alcance limitado como obra literaria.

[YY · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I need a quiet backwater and a sense of living as though I am barely alive on earth, treading a small, careful pathway through life. All my work is scaled down to this personality need, with the universe itself seen through the eyes of small, individual life dramas.

I feel that people, insofar as they are able, need to have a sense of alertness about destiny, a sort of alertness about their spiritual history. The canvas on which I have worked was influenced by a belief in the Hindu view of rebirth and reincarnation. Such a belief influences one to view that each individual, no matter what their present origin or background may be, is really the total embodiment of human history, with a vast accumulation of knowledge and experience stored in the subconscious mind.

It was against this background of an individual who could possibly have lived a million other lives, in a million different circumstances, that I began to view my relationship to Africa."

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel as though I became a friend of Bessie Head's while reading A Woman Alone, a collection of her autobiographical writings. She shares a great deal of wisdom about South Africa and the unique and remote corner of the world, Botswana, where she chose to live out her days to escape the political brutality of apartheid in South Africa. In these pages, she muses about literature and the authors and books that most influenced her. I feel a sense of understanding now that I didn't before reading A Woman Alone about South Africa's history, not only of colonialism but also the peaceful beauty of what came before it, some of which Head feels she is able to recapture with her exile to Botswana, a place so arid and without resources that the British don't want it. This book also gave me a deeper understanding of the African diaspora within Africa. Fascinating read!

[Nomvelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Woman Alone is a powerful collection of autobiographical writings and reflections. Bessie Head writes with raw honesty, vulnerability, and introspection, detailing her experiences as a mixed-race woman growing up in apartheid South Africa and later years in exile in Botswana. Through essays and letters, she candidly recounts feelings of rejection and alienation, describing a sense of not belonging. However, there's a quiet strength and hope in her voice throughout.

I first read this book at university as part of the prescribed reading. I'll admit, I didn't fully appreciate its content and subject matter beyond getting a good grade. Upon revisiting it, I found the blending of personal stories with broader social commentary insightful, leaving a lasting impression of resilience and loneliness captured in profound literary expression.

[Must Read Africa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Woman Alone captures Bessie's contemplations, her fascinations, and her inspiration for writing her novels, poems and short stories. A writing career that materialised in Botswana but was shaped by her experiences in South Africa.

[Michael Ainsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The cheap, glaring, paltry trash of a people who are living it up for themselves alone dominates everything, infiltrates everywhere.”

[Radhika · Rating 4 out of 5]

funny, brilliant. I fell in love with her writing.

[Kaileigh Grnak · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5!! i enjoyed it and highlight a lot but it wasn’t my favourite of its kind

[Snazy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If I had to write one day I would just like to say people is people and not damn white,damn black. Perhaps if I was a good enough writer I could still write damn white,damn black and still make them live. Make them real. Make you love them, not because of the colour of their skin but because they are important as human beings."

A while back I set out to read the Heinmann African Writers Series and 'a woman Alone' was one of the books I picked up, blindly, without really knowing what it's about. This book is a collection of autobiographical essays written by the late Botswana based South African author, Bessie Head. In this book she talks about her forbidden birth during apartheid times. She was born to a white mother and a black father and therefore was seen as an outcast to a certain extent.

She talks about feeling alone after her mother died when she was six because she didn't know her father and was then forced to live in an orphanage. Even in growing up she felt alone because she didn't have anyone to rely on. She moved to Botswana after developing a deep desire to write but was met with discouragement by the apartheid government. There she was a refugee and learnt about the power of community.

The book is a collection of essays entailing her thoughts on the political state of both the countries she affiliated with, literature, and racial discrimination to name a few.

The collection is well written and her arguments are well structured, illuminating and enlightening. Definitely a good read👍.

[Lbsantini · Rating 3 out of 5]

More or less, this text is short articles, an introduction to, or notes about the work of Bessie Head, as she wrote them, but is best read after some familiarity with her work. As I’d never read her novels, it felt I was meeting an engaging acquaintance over and over again without the chance to truly get to know her.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful, albeit repetitive, collection. Quite a few ideas were repeated multiple times and it felt like more could have been done in the space of this slim volume. Either way, it's my first book by Bessie Head, and won't be my last.

[Tonysha · Rating 5 out of 5]

These episodes are so honest they make you wonder about the genius of a person who can give an account of her own descent into "madness."

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not so much into the way her essays were put together, nor am I into autobiographical writings as much, but I think I'd really love reading her fiction. She's an amazing writer.

[Mena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful and necessary read, especially in the wake of Nelson Mandela's death. Will definitely be exploring her fiction next.

[Sam Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerfully Written

[Mariana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bessie Head,a South African, appears in at least two of Alice Walker's books. She drank herself to death at 49.