Lovers

by Gina Kaus

5 ½ x 8 (approximately) 319 pages Binding/ Hardback without dust jacket

Genres: African Literature

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1937

Reviews

[Linda Machie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gripping yet painful story.

[Tumelo Moleleki · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable collection of short stories... with a few that might make your vein throb, depending on who you are.

[Tutankhamun18 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favourite Bessie Head, but I really liked these three stories:

• Summer Sun
• Property
• Son of the Soil (potted history of South Africa)

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Barbora · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first time reading Bessie Head and although I found the selection of stories little odd, I have to say the writing was excellent and the language absolutely shone through. This is very much a book of two halves. While the stories in the first half read more like essays on exile, statelessness and racial oppression, this completely changed in the second half where the story building extended beyond the inside of one’s head. The first couple of stories didn’t have much plot or distinct characters, and written mostly in the first-person perspective of a woman, it was difficult not to think about the character as the author. The writing was contemplative and focused on the narrator’s inner life as they contemplated human nature, God, politics, and life in exile. 

Some of the later stories were almost parable-like. Head’s writing was close to oral storytelling, though I find it difficult to pinpoint exactly why it came across that way. I just had the sense that these were stories passed down through generations, told by the elders around the fire late at night. Overall, it was an interesting collection full of beautiful sentences that read like poetry, and I absolutely want to read more from the author.