Granite

by Jenny Robson

Thoughtful, insightful and compelling, Granite is a well-executed imagining of what happened to cause the collapse of the civilisation of Great Zimbabwe (called Zimba Remabwe in the book. While adult historical fiction has experienced a recent resurgence in interest, narratives are mostly drawn from European history; Granite is refreshingly African, illuminating a relatively unexplored area in fiction. It also shifts “fictionalised history” away from the European centre: in the story, Zimba Remabwe exists as a sophisticated African city state well integrated with the rest of the mid-fifteenth-century world. It is a world in which Arab scholars travel from China and India to Europe and Britain, filing their chronicles in the revered library of Timbuktu.

Because he cannot write, the story is dictated by a young nobleman called Mokomba – one of few survivors of his city’s downfall. The penman is Shafiq, a learned Arab traveller who is a father figure after the passing of Mokomba’s own father. Each chapter relates a series of events from these two characters’ perspectives, as they fill in what the other might have glossed over.

128 pages, Paperback

Published April 20, 2015

About the author

Jennifer Marion Robson (née Murray) is the first author to ever win four consecutive prizes in the Sanlam Youth Novel Competition for the novels Don’t Panic, Mechanic (1994), One Magic Moment (1996), The Denials of Kow-Ten (1998) and Because Pula Means Rain (2000).

Jenny was born and raised in Cape Town. She studied primary school teaching at the Teaching College in Mowbray and went on to study at the University of South Africa (Unisa) where she obtained her B.A. degree in Philosophy.

After two years of teaching in Simons Town, she moved to the diamond-mining town of Orapa in Botswana. She taught music there at Livingstone House for over thirty years. Jenny now lives in Maun in Botswana where she still teaches music. She is widowed and has two adult sons who live in London, UK.

Jenny loves writing for young people as she admires their spontaneity and lack of hypocrisy. Her favourite theme in her books is the utter uniqueness of the individual. She hates any form of stereotyping and sees every individual as a “never to be repeated entity.”

Reviews

[Nerine Dorman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Granite by Jenny Robson is a quick read aimed at younger readers (I'd say about 10-14 or thereabouts) that dips into the world of the young nobleman Mokomba, as he narrates the story of the downfall of the great African city Zimba Remabwe. His version of events is supplemented by the notes shared by his friend Shafiq, whose general knowledge and literacy offers context.

The king of Zimba Remabwe tasks Mokomba's father with finding out the secrets of building cathedrals in the style of the "Milk People" to the north, so a party sets out upon a dangerous journey, by land and by boat, until they reach England. What they find there and what they bring back is not quite what they expect, and we are offered the story bit by bit by unreliable narrators until we eventually have the bigger picture.

Jenny's writing style is engaging and fluid, and her love of the setting shines through with this telling that brings us an Africa-centred adventure, and a young man's coming of age. My only complaint is that the story is too short – there was so much potential to expand this into something more layered. This is a fascinating glimpse into a world of tradition and history, and I was left wondering what else could have been added to give the story further depth. As it is, this is a poignant read that may spark interest for those who'd like to know more about African history.

[Zane Louw · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a small book, but a good writing about the African scenery.