Bantu knots

by Lebo Mazibuko

‘Beauty is painful and expensive, sistas!’

Young Naledi wants to trade her bantu knots for Nonhle Thema’s hair on the Dark and Lovely box. She wishes she looked more like her light­skinned mother too. Ledi grows up in Pimville with her strict grandmother Mama Norah. During the day, she lives vicariously through the characters in Ndende Street and at night, she recites her bible verses with Mama. While her mother, Dineo, leads a life of glamour, chasing the blesser lifestyle.
Mama and Dineo have opposing views on everything and Ledi often finds herself in the middle of their conflict. When she starts university, she has to find a way to reconcile traditions and modernity.

Bantu Knots explores the complicated mother­daughter relationship and trying to come together to understand each other. We follow Ledi as she forgives a father who denies her; navigates the pressures of her circumstances, womanhood and beauty ideals – and pursues her dreams in spite of it all.

Genres: South Africa, Fiction, African Literature, Feminism

256 pages, Paperback

Published August 19, 2021

Reviews

[Pebi_books · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like I've been writing this review in my head for far too long. I need words to just say go out there and buy the book. I need ways to convey how original and yet familiar this felt. It's another township story, another look at how flawed our society is, another look at the atrocity that is the male gender and another look at the anchors of patriachy.

I enjoyed this debut very much. I don't care how many township based stories I've read. Each is a unique tale. In this one we have black females in unconventional careers ( not aiming for teaching, nursing, doctor etc) who show us that we too are fit for careers in the Arts. They are not a waste of time. Nothing beats passion. The careers these girls are pursuing are just refreshing.

The characters in the story each bring an aspect of SAn life worth exploring and talking about. We have the church girl gone wild, the female activist, the playboy and the innocent victims of mjolo etc.

In this story we follow Naledi - a girl child raised by her grandmother while her mother is in and out of her life. You can imagine how confusing it is to grow up in an environment where you're watching 2 generations of completely different ways of life, while trying to figure out your place in the equation. Dineo lives for men while Mama Norah lives for Christ.

We watch as Naledi inherits bits and parts of the versions of the women in her life as well as come into her own.

There are various topics that this book touches on but the one topic I feel reverberated throughout the book was on how difficult it is as a black child to speak out loud about your sexuality or the opposite sex. Everything about your body is changing but no one is giving you a clear picture. Just vague warnings about boys. There is a lot of sneaking out and lying to the adults.

Naledi is baffled by this observation. Her grandmother is part of a generation that upholds patriachy and keeps it alive, her mother is out there living her life and even she doesn't know how to communicate important topics and her friends are just learning as they go. Not even the church can teach them about anything except to tell them that fornication is a sin.

I feel that our generation of black parents should do better. We shouldn't have to wait until a daughter's wedding night to tell her about sex and impart whatever knowledge on the matter.

The author went as far as to say that we lost the importance of initiation schools, meant to teach young adults about their bodies and the likes. To prepare them for adulthood. We eliminate a lot of our cultural beliefs without replacing them with something similar but better. If initiation schools were meant to teach the young about the changes in their body, why then do we not have replacements for such (please don't say LO). Where are the elders to teach instead of judging "today's youth".

💫 Thank you to NB Publishers for this #gifted review copy

[Zinhle Ngidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you did not grow up in the township, you won't relate but you can use the opportunity to get this book and taste the life some of us had to live. Naledi represents most girls who grew up in the townships, it does not matter which one because while the story was based in Soweto, my mind was in Umlazi. The story is so familiar, you can even spot the characters from the street you grew up in.

Naledi's grandma represents 95% of township grannies who had to raise their grandchildren while the mothers (their daughters) were out there chasing for God knows what. While they loved their grandchildren dearly, they were also too strict, maybe because of their own hidden and not talked about pains of their past.
The story is about coming of age of Naledi. When she goes to varsity, that is when the curtain opens for her. Having a strict grandmother and an absent mother, she is left with with no option but to learn from her friends. There are boys, there are parties, there's alcohol, there are blesses. What is sad is that even the difficulties she comes across, she can't share with either her mom and or grandma. Sounds familiar? Yeah, that's where we come from.

What Lebo has done here is to take us through the location culture, the family dynamics, the non existent bond between the young parents and their kids, the grandmothers who had to be strong and be everything to their grandkids and many more. She covers themes like rape, woman abuse, abandonment, death, rejection etc.

As you read, you can't not applaud Lebo as she takes you through the location lifestyle. You won't miss those guys/uncles who would sit under a tree or at the corner of the street, drinking their ngudus and who know all the secrets of the location. They might have slept with so and so's daughter and under the influence, they will be sharing these stories. You will also see those beautiful slay queens who sleep with almost every man in the township but they don't care, so are the men. Like it's not an issue, it happened, so what... Pity some become their baby daddies and it gets hidden or they deny the baby. You will smell those magwinya- the location breakfast. Those taxi drivers who propose every girl who takes the front seat.

It was not about the bantu knots - the hair - get your copy and you will enjoy not just the content but the style the author used. It's simply and you won't miss the location lingo. I enjoyed this. Dankie Lebo for taking me back to the time, where we had to navigate through life on our own but succeeded anyway.

[Rolland Simpi Motaung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bantu Knots by Lebo Mazibuko is a delightful coming-of-age story of a young black woman growing up in a township environment. At its core, this latest novel is a celebration of strong black women that many readers can identify with.
Mazibuko stunningly weaved Kasi symbolism that would have many readers identifying their family members, neighbours and nyaope boys asking for two rands. This easy read explores complex themes around self-identity and beauty ideals, marriage, teenage pregnancy, gender-violence, youth unemployment and religion mostly embedded in a township setting



For the full book review see link below:

https://culture-review.co.za/book-rev...

#BantuKnots #Hair #Moriri #AfricanWomen #Township

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read, but battled to get into the swing of the story in the first half. The second half picked up pace and gave Ledi's story gravitas.

A relatable tale with characters we grew up with.

Congratulations, Lebo.

[Mbali (flowahh_) · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you don’t know by now, coming of age stories have a special place in my heart, and so I was super excited when I found out about this offering by Lebo Mazibuko - a coming-of-age story of a young black woman in South Africa finding her voice. 🥹



There are things that I loved about this book and things that left me baffled! Basically what would happen is that as soon as I started enjoying myself, something would happen and then the book with would lose me. I eventually came to the conclusion that my problem(?) with this story is how time moves, which consequently messed with the flow of the book.

Despite this, there were parts of this story that I absolutely loved! One being Naledi’s relationship with her mother Dineo, as well as Dineo’s relationship with her mother, Mama Norah. Both her relationships with these mother figures are tricky - her mom is adamant about making it out of the hood which is juxtaposed by Mama Norah’s devoutness to God. And poor Naledi is stuck in the middle trying to figure out what’s what.

I also started loving Naledi more and more when she made it to Varsity, and I saw her grow into her own, become more confident and better be able to express herself 💖.
 All in all, I definitely think it is worth the read mostly because Lebo writes a story that I KNOW will resonate with a lot of South African black women 🥺

[Nalicia Koundi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Bantu Knots from the beginning till the end.
I really love the characters and I was quickly able to relate to them. I went through the emotions, as Naledi was going through them. From the betrayal of Sindi to the Joy of getting her Matric, to the University life challenges, failed situationship, to the rape and the death of her friend Karabo from HIV and so much more. I also learnt a lot of proverbs, life lessons and grandma wisdom like in page 189 where it is stated," Sex turns even the most seemingly honest men into liars" . The book is a real delicacy, that I totally recommend.

[Vuvu Vena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating 3.8⭐️

[Raymond Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very easy to read, relatable, and simple writing style. I enjoyed it, thanks Lebo Mazibuko for giving us Naledi. I love Itumeleng. Had its moments of circulating around one thing without morning on the next point but that didn’t dent the overall impression.

[Tintswalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's an amazing read. 👏
The first thing that stood out was the use of african proverbs and the headings of each chapter in the South African languages. It was a nice touch. It challenged the way I read....

New words were added into my vocabulary - words like eloquence, thrusting, darted, and theatrics.

Lastly, I could relate as I also grew up in a township, like Naledi. This is a powerful story. Appreciate your work in the book.

[Sally Howes]

So looking forward to reading this book - it looks great. I have bought it for my library However the main write up on Goodreads is riddled with errors. This would put off a wider audience. Goodreads please fix this. I'm not sure you'd do this to a book from another country. I'm happy to write one if you ask me to - but however you do it - please fix it.

[Consacre Kapongo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for anyone who would like to read their first Local South African book. I say so because this was my first and I really enjoyed it, especially the character growth the main character goes through. Only peeve I have is the ending I think its rather abrupt.

[Claire Hondo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lebo Mazibuko you have just found yourself a 100% fan in me. Your writing is superb- simple but heartwarming you just want to keep engrossed in that bubble. This book was pure talent. It's a must get I'm telling you. When I initially bought my copy seeing the title I was skeptical. I thought it's about hair and all that 😜🤦🏾‍♀️ yes stereotyped it🤣 but I was truly blown away with how you get to experience each character and the emotions invoked as you read through it. It's a common story of Kasi life but told intriguingly. 

Bantu knots is a book about a young girl Naledi coming of age and the struggles she in cares as she is growing up. What stands out most about it is the everyday pattern seen in our communities and recurring altercations that happens in families. Dineo has no relationship whatsoever with her mother affectionately called mama by Naledi her granddaughter. Dineo ends up not having a relationship with her daughter( she tries in her weird way) who is being raised by ugogo. Dineo's life is mainly about being "kept"-having a man take care of her needs at the expense of being in her child's life. Mama is the epitome of order, religion, and rules you know those oldies who are strict. I love how Naledi stood up for her passion and dreams despite Mama calling them "plays" like they are nothing.

This book has many discussion themes which are good for book clubs to discuss more on them. Some of them that stood out for me:
Death and loss of a loved one
Friendships and betrayals
Having passion, that desire to dream a future for yourself and believing in that dream
Discrimination
Matriarchy and how she has to hold the front to support the family
Rape and consent
Sexuality and relationships
Finding a voice and footing as one is growing

Now I have a book hangover cant start my next one🤷🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️

[fellengm.reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Naledi grew up as a well-behaved girl, who lived with her gran, always rocking her bantu knots of which she wished she could change and straighten it like the pastor's daughter whom she admired so much.

Her grandma made sure she read her Bible and prayed every day. She tried her best to see to it that her granddaughter doesn't turn out like her mother whom, every man in her neighborhood has had a piece of. Of which brings me to the point that, sometimes on trying to protect us, our parents don't realize that they are kinda depriving us from making our own mistakes and learning while we are young.

On going to college, she actually starts seeing the world for what it really is, beyond what her grandma has limited her to, and finally befriends the girl whom she admired as a child and learns that she actually is nothing like the girl she portrayed herself to be when standing in front of church members quoting Bible and passing on messages.

Her college years are filled with experiences, dealing with problems at home and trying to fit in at school among her peers, lying to her grandma and all teenagey stuff.

One thing about African Fiction is that it always hit home. It is relatable. We either know someone who is/has been through stuff similar to those the characters go through or we ourselves have personal experiences.

I highly recommend this book for anyone, it was such a fun, relatable and an easy read. I loved reading all about Naledi's challenges through her grandma's tough love. I think every woman, young and old will find something they have been through in it.

[Palesa Mpeqa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was totally relatable , growing up in Kasi you get to really see as things unfold in Ndende street, how the street gets busy in a weekend , the meals that have been held so closely to our hearts even when we move away from kasi to varsity and later enter the working environment. 😂even the hypocrisy that is seen in churches and how growing up in a Christian household totally changes your world view , n just how hard it becomes having to navigate the world as a black woman who’s still trying to figure out their sexuality

The novel is easy to read and i believe I got to see myself in Naledi on a few aspects of her life . I just wish the ending was different . I wanted to see how her interaction with her grandmother was going forward , if she was willing to be flexible and understand that Naledi and Dineo were a different breed of women, but I guess a good book keeps you wanting more . Loved it

[nyakhakhu_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆?”

This is a coming of age story. We follow Naledi's life as she lives with her strict Christian grandmother, who never permits her to leave the house without first taking a bath. Yes, she is that strict. Naledi must decide whether to live her life the way her grandmother would have wanted her to or to make her own place in the world when she gets older and attends university.

We explore topics like intricacies of mother-daughter relationships, womanhood and self discovery.

The writing is simple and enjoyable. The characters are complex and vibrant. The supporting characters were crucial in bringing the plot together. The character development is flawless. Because the location is in South Africa, the entire story felt readily relevant - I sometimes forget how refreshing that is.

There’s a diverse cast of characters and a somewhat delicate balance between the sad, heartbreaking scenes and the lighthearted ones. Some of these scenes will have you questioning reality. This is a rather sad story. This book will stay with me for some time.

The fact that some topics are not properly discussed in black households and how uncomfortable it is whenever they are discussed was one thing that stood out to me throughout the entire book. We never go into detail and simply skim over some issues.

“𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝑰𝒕𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌?”

The only reason I am not giving this book 5 stars is because when I put the book down I did not feel compelled to pick it up.

I highly recommend this book especially if you are looking to get into local authors and local stories that speak to you.

[Gift Monaila-Tshuma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bantu Knots was just a very beautiful journey as I got to experience different personalities from the main characters and supporting characters especially Naledi, Dineo, Mama Nora, I learnt that Mama Nora was a very strict yet also religious she is a very tough women towards Dineo and Naledi, Naledi had a lot to deal with from being body shamed by her father and his friends, having to have the same hairstyle, transitioning from a church girl to varsity life, and lastly Dineo had my heart she went through this traumatic journey as she had to deal with the lust from men, teenage pregnancy and a difficult mother, abuse from her spouse and having to face the humiliation of going back home with nothing.

It was a great read I would suggest it to highschool students planning to go to varsity as they might get the glimpse of the varsity life.

[Pashu Haufiku · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lebo had me suffering from constant outburst of giggles. Such a fascinating writer. I’m in-love with her meticulous description of nearly everything. She has magical ways of describing every little detail- the ones one would actually miss if the book is to be filmed.

The story is about Naledi, a township girl being raised by her strict, cultural, deep-rooted Christian grandma, while her mother is in-out of her life chasing a blesser lifestyle.

The story gets absorbing when she starts university, being introduced to a new life as she pursues her career in arts.

It covers the concept of black women in unconventional careers and the altercations that happen in families. It also revolves around themes of friendship, betrayal, sexuality, rape, feminism, race, politics and relationships.

A simple story which is both exhilarating and heartbreaking and nothing short of what happens in contemporary townships.

Many times I felt like I was in Ndende street watching all the spectacle unfold, the shortest 255 pages I have read. Definitely picking it up again one day.

[Jayne Bauling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deceptively simple, this novel has much to say, in a beautifully understated way – about family, identity, the generational gulf between born-frees and their elders, the passage from childhood to adulthood, and of course, hair and all that it symbolizes in terms of a woman’s identitify.
Then, Ledi is just so likeable, feeling her way to finding herself. Also fascinating are her university friends Minnie and Itu, the latter frequently the voice of cultural pride.
And there is at least one blink-back-the-tears moment. Lovely!

[Nadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very important book that tackles a lot of topics that go unnoticed. I enjoyed the writing and the characters as well. I especially enjoyed the use of language switching between English and the African Languages. Gave it a lot of authenticity.

I was a little confused however, with the rushed time lapse from the beginning to the middle of the book and felt that perhaps dates would have given the reader some idea of where Naledi was in her life as well as a little more cohesion.

Other than that, a good read.

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars! A very sweet coming of age story full of rich storylines about maternal lineage and intergenerational relationships between women, bodily autonomy & self love & care. Felt a bit confused by how time moved / progressed through the story but it was a quick and very enjoyable read!

[LizBetweenTheLines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Placeholder for Fabrics of Love until it’s added on the app.

I was meant to read this over the weekend but finished it in one sitting on Friday night. Oh the Fabrics have been interwoven beautiful. No bars!

[Sunnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So well written. I did not grow up in Soweto nor have I ever been but Lebo did such a great job that I felt like I grew up on Ndende Street with Lolo and Naledi.
I can’t wait to read more of Lebo’s work.

[Luyanda Kwofie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read and very relatable

[Melanin_Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very easy-to-read and relatable book, I really enjoyed it.

[Tania Mtyingizane · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books

[Lilitha Matshaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read, you won't be able to put it down.

[Nomsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time fave books