What do you think?
Rate this book
When Rain Clouds Gather & Maru
When Rainclouds Escaping South Africa and his troubled past, Makehaya crosses the border to Botswana, in the hope of leading a peaceful, purposeful life. In the village of Golema Mmidi he meets Gilbert, a charismatic Englishman who is trying to modernise farming methods to benefit the community. The two outsiders join forces, but their task is fraught with opposition from the corrupt chief, the pressures of tradition, and the unrelenting climate ever threaten to bring tragedy. Margaret, an orphan from a despised tribe, has lived her life under the loving protection of a missionary's wife. She has only to open her mouth to cause confusion, for her education and English accent do not fit her looks. When she accepts her first teaching post, in a remote village, Margaret is befriended by Dikeledi, sister of Maru the chief-in-waiting. Despite making influential friends, Margaret faces prejudice even from the children she teaches, and her presence causes Maru and his best friend - also Dikeledi's lover - to become sworn enemies.
352 pages, Paperback
First published February 9, 2010
39 people are currently reading
431 people want to read
About the author
Bessie Head
48 books206 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 19, 2021
WHEN RAIN CLOUDS GATHER (1968). Makhaya is on the run. He is wanted for violent actions against the racist, colonial, South African government. He barely manages to cross the border into Botswana.
Bessie Head, the author, also underwent a similar journey as a political refugee, when she was forced to escape from South Africa as a victim of mental and physical violence related to the policy of apartheid. Head emigrated to neighbouring Botswana, just like Makhaya.
Makhaya finds himself in a rural, isolated area, where he meets Gilbert Balfour, a friendly English man who runs an experimental farm. He wants to introduce modern farming methods to help the poor villagers and Makhaya is happy to join him as a partner. But their task is not easy: they have to deal with challenges like the unrelenting climate and drought, the force of certain traditions and the opposition of the local chief, who revels in corruption and exploiting the resilient villagers.
WHEN RAIN CLOUDS GATHER is a slim, classic novel about traditional village life in Botswana at a time when the country was in transition from being a colony to a democracy. At its heart, you will find the cooperative agricultural model that Bessie Head cherished, a model that values mutual respect and diversity of cultures. Head believed those collective projects could repair the wounds left by centuries of domination and class inequalities.
MARU (1971) is the story about an untouchable, a pariah. I wasn't aware that such a class existed in Africa so this story was particularly poignant for me.
The protagonist was born by the roadside. Her mother died while giving birth. She is a Masarwa baby, the lowest class of people in Southern Africa. Masarwas are despised, they are bushmen, outcasts, less than human.
Margaret Cadmore, the wife of a white missionary, adopted the baby orphan, not really out of love but to prove to society that heredity is not important, what really mattered was environment. So she gave the baby her own name and education. Young Margaret became a teacher. Eventually, her adoptive mother returns to her home country and leaves her daughter behind.
Environment is important, of course, but young Margaret learns in due course that her place in society is significantly affected by the fact that she is a Masarwa. When she finds a teaching position in a remote Botswana village she encounters a lot of prejudice and hatred, as well as plots and intrigues. Although she is highly qualified for the job, the local "authorities" cannot stand that the village children are being taught by the lowliest of slaves.
MARU is a novella about racial prejudice and two best friends who become enemies over the love of a woman, however, I found the love story quite uninteresting. I felt the love story was making a point about the effects of prejudice and intolerance in society. What I did find engrossing was the way the story was narrated and the description of gender and class oppressive customs.
Bessie Head is considered one of Botswana's most influential writers. These two novels are somewhat autobiographical: WHEN RAIN CLOUDS GATHER deals with her own experience living on an experimental farm and MARU deals with her own experience of being considered racially inferior. Head was not a Masarwa, but she was and orphan and she was coloured. A white family adopted her but when they realized her mixed racial background, they returned her to the orphanage. Fortunately, she was adopted later by a coloured couple, she received a formal education and she became a journalist. These two short novels offer an impressive glimpse of Botswana society in the 60s and 70s.
Bessie Head, the author, also underwent a similar journey as a political refugee, when she was forced to escape from South Africa as a victim of mental and physical violence related to the policy of apartheid. Head emigrated to neighbouring Botswana, just like Makhaya.
Makhaya finds himself in a rural, isolated area, where he meets Gilbert Balfour, a friendly English man who runs an experimental farm. He wants to introduce modern farming methods to help the poor villagers and Makhaya is happy to join him as a partner. But their task is not easy: they have to deal with challenges like the unrelenting climate and drought, the force of certain traditions and the opposition of the local chief, who revels in corruption and exploiting the resilient villagers.
WHEN RAIN CLOUDS GATHER is a slim, classic novel about traditional village life in Botswana at a time when the country was in transition from being a colony to a democracy. At its heart, you will find the cooperative agricultural model that Bessie Head cherished, a model that values mutual respect and diversity of cultures. Head believed those collective projects could repair the wounds left by centuries of domination and class inequalities.
MARU (1971) is the story about an untouchable, a pariah. I wasn't aware that such a class existed in Africa so this story was particularly poignant for me.
The protagonist was born by the roadside. Her mother died while giving birth. She is a Masarwa baby, the lowest class of people in Southern Africa. Masarwas are despised, they are bushmen, outcasts, less than human.
Margaret Cadmore, the wife of a white missionary, adopted the baby orphan, not really out of love but to prove to society that heredity is not important, what really mattered was environment. So she gave the baby her own name and education. Young Margaret became a teacher. Eventually, her adoptive mother returns to her home country and leaves her daughter behind.
Environment is important, of course, but young Margaret learns in due course that her place in society is significantly affected by the fact that she is a Masarwa. When she finds a teaching position in a remote Botswana village she encounters a lot of prejudice and hatred, as well as plots and intrigues. Although she is highly qualified for the job, the local "authorities" cannot stand that the village children are being taught by the lowliest of slaves.
MARU is a novella about racial prejudice and two best friends who become enemies over the love of a woman, however, I found the love story quite uninteresting. I felt the love story was making a point about the effects of prejudice and intolerance in society. What I did find engrossing was the way the story was narrated and the description of gender and class oppressive customs.
Bessie Head is considered one of Botswana's most influential writers. These two novels are somewhat autobiographical: WHEN RAIN CLOUDS GATHER deals with her own experience living on an experimental farm and MARU deals with her own experience of being considered racially inferior. Head was not a Masarwa, but she was and orphan and she was coloured. A white family adopted her but when they realized her mixed racial background, they returned her to the orphanage. Fortunately, she was adopted later by a coloured couple, she received a formal education and she became a journalist. These two short novels offer an impressive glimpse of Botswana society in the 60s and 70s.
December 6, 2018
I really enjoyed "When Rain clouds gather". There were bad people and bad situations including a death of child but the author said everything thing she wanted to say only just focusing on the good people and their actions. In the end the book felt like it was about unity, love, and the human spirit not drought, poverty and greedy paramount chiefs. 48 years later, I found it heart warming and explored very relevant themes (feminism, identity, racism, tribalism) while hardly mentioning these words. Most importantly , the women were very liberated and the "feminism" portrayed by the 3 main characters was multifaceted.
December 21, 2020
Great collection of Bessie Head's first two brilliant novels When Rain Clouds Gather and Maru.
The introduction by Helen Oyeyemi is very interesting, but should not be read before reading both novels! Fortunately I kept it until the end. She links elements of Head's difficult life to the themes explored in the novels.
The introduction by Helen Oyeyemi is very interesting, but should not be read before reading both novels! Fortunately I kept it until the end. She links elements of Head's difficult life to the themes explored in the novels.
October 15, 2023
Bessie Head nasce nel 1937 in Sudafrica ma, a causa del suo coinvolgimento nella politica panafricana, si rifugia in Botswana dove, dopo molti anni, le sarà concessa la cittadinanza. Nonostante la sua origine sudafricana è considerata una dei più importanti scrittori botswana.
Questo ebook raccoglie i primi due romanzi dell’autrice, When Rain Clouds Gather e Maru, mai tradotti in italiano.
In When Rain Clouds Gather il protagonista è Makhaya, un giovane e bellissimo uomo sudafricano che si rifugia in Botswana, dove chiede asilo politico. Siamo infatti negli anni dell’apartheid, in cui i sudafricani di colore sono considerati inferiori e sono segregati. Makhaya ha passato due anni in prigione solo perché aveva con sé un foglietto dove si proponeva di far saltare in aria qualcosa, più un appunto che una dichiarazione di intenti vera e propria.
In Botswana trova rifugio in un villaggio, dove il vecchio Dinorego lo accoglie con sé nella speranza di fargli sposare sua figlia Maria. Makhaya fa così amicizia con Gilbert, un inglese che vive da tre anni nella casa di Dinorego, dove si occupa di agricoltura e della possibilità di svilupparla fino a renderla moderna. Il suo intento è quello di iniziare una coltivazione di tabacco che coinvolga l’intera popolazione del villaggio, per portare ricchezza a un villaggio poverissimo. Gilbert coinvolge in questa sua visione anche Makhaya, che ha il compito di insegnare l’agricoltura alle donne.
Le descrizioni agrarie sono lunghissime ed estenuanti e rendono un po’ meno bello il libro ai miei occhi. In ogni caso è un bel romanzo, che merita di essere letto.
Maru invece è molto più bello, anche se pure in questo caso ho fatto un po’ di fatica a seguire la vicenda, forse per motivi miei personali e non oggettivi, a questo punto.
Il romanzo porta il nome di uno dei protagonisti, anche se la vera protagonista è Margaret Cadmore e non Maru. Margaret è una donna Masarwa che è stata adottata da piccola da un’insegnante missionaria bianca che le ha poi dato il nome.
Margaret, come tutta la gente del suo popolo, ha la pelle chiara, tanto che tutti la scambiano per una “Coloured”, cioè una donna nata dall’unione di un/a bianco/a e un/a nero/a. La distinzione è importante perché i Masarwa, una tribù boscimana, sono visti dai Batswana come degli schiavi, degli animali, tanto che, quando scopre la sua origine, uno dei personaggi comincia a parlare di Margaret usando il pronome “it”, che in inglese si usa per designare animali o cose.
Margaret viene assegnata come insegnante a un piccolo villaggio del Botswana, dove scopre come sono trattati gli appartenenti al suo popolo e, nonostante questo, continua ad andare fiera della sua origine.
Maru tratta un tema importante, ovvero la discriminazione e il pregiudizio. E lo fa con grande maestria e con grande tenerezza, attraverso un altro tema che è quello dell’amore. Moleka infatti si innamora, ricambiato, di Margaret, ma non ha il coraggio di avvicinarla e confessarglielo perché ha paura del pregiudizio della sua gente. Il suo caro amico Maru, invece, non avrà paura di ciò che dice la gente e finirà per sposare Margaret dopo una serie di peripezie che lo portano ad allontanarsi e anzi addirittura a odiare l’amico di sempre, Moleka.
È un romanzo di grande effetto, molto bello e toccante, che chiunque dovrebbe leggere, tanto più che è veramente breve.
Questo ebook raccoglie i primi due romanzi dell’autrice, When Rain Clouds Gather e Maru, mai tradotti in italiano.
In When Rain Clouds Gather il protagonista è Makhaya, un giovane e bellissimo uomo sudafricano che si rifugia in Botswana, dove chiede asilo politico. Siamo infatti negli anni dell’apartheid, in cui i sudafricani di colore sono considerati inferiori e sono segregati. Makhaya ha passato due anni in prigione solo perché aveva con sé un foglietto dove si proponeva di far saltare in aria qualcosa, più un appunto che una dichiarazione di intenti vera e propria.
In Botswana trova rifugio in un villaggio, dove il vecchio Dinorego lo accoglie con sé nella speranza di fargli sposare sua figlia Maria. Makhaya fa così amicizia con Gilbert, un inglese che vive da tre anni nella casa di Dinorego, dove si occupa di agricoltura e della possibilità di svilupparla fino a renderla moderna. Il suo intento è quello di iniziare una coltivazione di tabacco che coinvolga l’intera popolazione del villaggio, per portare ricchezza a un villaggio poverissimo. Gilbert coinvolge in questa sua visione anche Makhaya, che ha il compito di insegnare l’agricoltura alle donne.
Le descrizioni agrarie sono lunghissime ed estenuanti e rendono un po’ meno bello il libro ai miei occhi. In ogni caso è un bel romanzo, che merita di essere letto.
Maru invece è molto più bello, anche se pure in questo caso ho fatto un po’ di fatica a seguire la vicenda, forse per motivi miei personali e non oggettivi, a questo punto.
Il romanzo porta il nome di uno dei protagonisti, anche se la vera protagonista è Margaret Cadmore e non Maru. Margaret è una donna Masarwa che è stata adottata da piccola da un’insegnante missionaria bianca che le ha poi dato il nome.
Margaret, come tutta la gente del suo popolo, ha la pelle chiara, tanto che tutti la scambiano per una “Coloured”, cioè una donna nata dall’unione di un/a bianco/a e un/a nero/a. La distinzione è importante perché i Masarwa, una tribù boscimana, sono visti dai Batswana come degli schiavi, degli animali, tanto che, quando scopre la sua origine, uno dei personaggi comincia a parlare di Margaret usando il pronome “it”, che in inglese si usa per designare animali o cose.
Margaret viene assegnata come insegnante a un piccolo villaggio del Botswana, dove scopre come sono trattati gli appartenenti al suo popolo e, nonostante questo, continua ad andare fiera della sua origine.
Maru tratta un tema importante, ovvero la discriminazione e il pregiudizio. E lo fa con grande maestria e con grande tenerezza, attraverso un altro tema che è quello dell’amore. Moleka infatti si innamora, ricambiato, di Margaret, ma non ha il coraggio di avvicinarla e confessarglielo perché ha paura del pregiudizio della sua gente. Il suo caro amico Maru, invece, non avrà paura di ciò che dice la gente e finirà per sposare Margaret dopo una serie di peripezie che lo portano ad allontanarsi e anzi addirittura a odiare l’amico di sempre, Moleka.
È un romanzo di grande effetto, molto bello e toccante, che chiunque dovrebbe leggere, tanto più che è veramente breve.
May 1, 2022
Es un libro plano, que no me suscita ninguna sensación. Es un libro donde los buenos son muy buenos y los malos muy malos, sin matices. Una utopía que parte de una distopia. En medio un retrato de la Botsuana en el momento de acceder a la independencia, la discusión entre modernidad y tradición, entre mujer y hombre, entre ayuda extranjera y conocimiento local, desarrollo, inovación… No ha terminado de convencerme auqnue pueda resultar interesante en algunos puntos.
May 15, 2023
"Even ordinary things like cups, brooms, pots, and houses were a pleasure to him to contemplate, once he had become aware of their existence, as though all these things would anchor him firmly to the earth. They also strengthened his resolve to be a future millionaire, for many a future millionaire must have had a dead child in his life who had died from lack of proper food, and he must have had a one-room hut in which he could hardly move and breathe. … If a man didn’t have dreams like this, in Africa, he would end up food for the vultures too."
In description, Head's novels are concerned with village life in 1960s Botswana, but that belies the depth of political sophistication here, combined with an affecting talent for depicting agonised emotional lives.
Head's early life was exceptional, her situation only explicable in terms of South African Apartheid: born to white mother, adopted to a white couple until her skin colour settled in when she was abruptly surrendered and fostered with a 'coloured' family, an arrangement that ended at 12 - with Head simply told she would never be returning from school again. Brilliant at schooling, out of place in South Africa's rigidly race-based social system, Head immersed herself in the Pan-African movement, then the protests in Soweto, then the African-artistic movement. Betrayed to the police in a faction fight, disillusioned by a terrible marriage to a Black leader, and with fragile mental health, she fled across to border with her toddler to Botswana where she spent 15 years in poverty seeking political asylum and residency.
None of this, of course, has anything to do with When Rain Clouds Gather and Maru, except that it explains some of just how very good they are. Head's prose is deceptively simple, but the straightforward nature of the prose and the plot creates a canvas in which the tumult of her character's internal lives play out.
When Rain Clouds Gather is the more straightforward of the two - a tale about a refugee who seeks a purpose over the border, which is really about change, survival and 'progress'. Head's rejection of organised politics is not subtle - "There were four or five such liberation parties with little or no membership among the people but many undersecretaries general." - but her sense of optimism and trust in the efforts of the poor makes this an ultimately hopeful and, dare I say it, inspiring read. Her central core of characters - including a young English communal farming pioneer and a young mother furious to find something better than marriage - make mistakes but ultimately struggle to purpose.
Maru is a much stranger beast. A short tale with a lot going on, the perspectives of each character are disturbingly off-kilter, asking the reader to both empathise and critique. In the end, the story is disquieting, challenging what might be happy and for whom. It will take some distance to unpack, which is an excellent thing.
In description, Head's novels are concerned with village life in 1960s Botswana, but that belies the depth of political sophistication here, combined with an affecting talent for depicting agonised emotional lives.
Head's early life was exceptional, her situation only explicable in terms of South African Apartheid: born to white mother, adopted to a white couple until her skin colour settled in when she was abruptly surrendered and fostered with a 'coloured' family, an arrangement that ended at 12 - with Head simply told she would never be returning from school again. Brilliant at schooling, out of place in South Africa's rigidly race-based social system, Head immersed herself in the Pan-African movement, then the protests in Soweto, then the African-artistic movement. Betrayed to the police in a faction fight, disillusioned by a terrible marriage to a Black leader, and with fragile mental health, she fled across to border with her toddler to Botswana where she spent 15 years in poverty seeking political asylum and residency.
None of this, of course, has anything to do with When Rain Clouds Gather and Maru, except that it explains some of just how very good they are. Head's prose is deceptively simple, but the straightforward nature of the prose and the plot creates a canvas in which the tumult of her character's internal lives play out.
When Rain Clouds Gather is the more straightforward of the two - a tale about a refugee who seeks a purpose over the border, which is really about change, survival and 'progress'. Head's rejection of organised politics is not subtle - "There were four or five such liberation parties with little or no membership among the people but many undersecretaries general." - but her sense of optimism and trust in the efforts of the poor makes this an ultimately hopeful and, dare I say it, inspiring read. Her central core of characters - including a young English communal farming pioneer and a young mother furious to find something better than marriage - make mistakes but ultimately struggle to purpose.
Maru is a much stranger beast. A short tale with a lot going on, the perspectives of each character are disturbingly off-kilter, asking the reader to both empathise and critique. In the end, the story is disquieting, challenging what might be happy and for whom. It will take some distance to unpack, which is an excellent thing.
June 27, 2018
Bessie Head is one of southern Africa’s hidden gems. Like most people I was introduced to her because her books were part of my school’s syllabus – and since then I have long read and re-read everything and anything by her, at times to jog my memory of what was.
She is a late South African author (1937 – 1986), and When Rain Clouds Gather was her first novel, which was published in 1968. As the novel opens, Makhaya is on the run for violent actions taken to undermine the racist, colonial system of 1960s South Africa. His escape and subsequent journey in search of self-determination matches, to some extent, Head’s own coerced migration from apartheid South Africa to the isolated country of Botswana.
In the heart of rural Botswana, the poverty-stricken village of Golema Mmidi is a haven to exiles from far and wide. A South African political refugee and an Englishman join forces to revolutionise the village’s traditional farming methods, but their task is fraught with danger as the pressures of tradition, opposition from the local chief and the unrelenting climate threaten to divide and devastate the fragile community.
http://blog.exclusivebooks.co.za/nond...
She is a late South African author (1937 – 1986), and When Rain Clouds Gather was her first novel, which was published in 1968. As the novel opens, Makhaya is on the run for violent actions taken to undermine the racist, colonial system of 1960s South Africa. His escape and subsequent journey in search of self-determination matches, to some extent, Head’s own coerced migration from apartheid South Africa to the isolated country of Botswana.
In the heart of rural Botswana, the poverty-stricken village of Golema Mmidi is a haven to exiles from far and wide. A South African political refugee and an Englishman join forces to revolutionise the village’s traditional farming methods, but their task is fraught with danger as the pressures of tradition, opposition from the local chief and the unrelenting climate threaten to divide and devastate the fragile community.
http://blog.exclusivebooks.co.za/nond...
June 30, 2020
I've split the review in two.
When The Rain Clouds Gathers follows the story of a South African named Makhaya who crosses the border into Botswana, and finds himself in the village of Golema Mmidi. •
Look I don’t even know where to start because the novel is complex (I’ve spent days trying to figure out how to package this review). At its core, this novel is a love story, one that details Gilbert, an Englishman and Maria, a Tswana woman’s love and Makhaya’s search for love. Simultaneously Bessie Head examines the human condition, traditionalism, colonialism and the prospect of development where people are usually seen as the forces of change -especially Makhaya whose dislike for authority and traditional values threatens the chiefdom. Makhaya is such a strange character btw, physically attractive with a lot of inner turmoil. I’d always read his parts with a furrowed brow 💀
Maru can be described as a love story based in Botswana - one that makes a statement on racial and tribal prejudice. The novel tells the story of an orphan named Margaret Cadmore who also happens to be “Mosarwa” (a derogatory name for the San) who after experiencing racism growing up moves to Dilepe to teach. The town of Dilepe is no different as Margaret continues to experience prejudice but this time it’s tribal. Like I said it’s a love a story and when Margaret reaches Dilepe two men instantly fall for her - Moleka and Maru. Again, Bessie Head’s writing is always so complex and there’s no difference when it comes to Maru. I do enjoy how she explores oppression and how she simultaneously critiques colonialism and tribalism. However I didn’t like Maru, I found him controlling and manipulative and it could be Bessie Head’s way of showing how manipulative and controlling heads of countries or chiefdoms can be but omg there were times when I wished I could reach into my book and slap him 💀 oh and how could I forget? I loved Dikeledi and Margaret’s friendship so much 😭.
When The Rain Clouds Gathers follows the story of a South African named Makhaya who crosses the border into Botswana, and finds himself in the village of Golema Mmidi. •
Look I don’t even know where to start because the novel is complex (I’ve spent days trying to figure out how to package this review). At its core, this novel is a love story, one that details Gilbert, an Englishman and Maria, a Tswana woman’s love and Makhaya’s search for love. Simultaneously Bessie Head examines the human condition, traditionalism, colonialism and the prospect of development where people are usually seen as the forces of change -especially Makhaya whose dislike for authority and traditional values threatens the chiefdom. Makhaya is such a strange character btw, physically attractive with a lot of inner turmoil. I’d always read his parts with a furrowed brow 💀
Maru can be described as a love story based in Botswana - one that makes a statement on racial and tribal prejudice. The novel tells the story of an orphan named Margaret Cadmore who also happens to be “Mosarwa” (a derogatory name for the San) who after experiencing racism growing up moves to Dilepe to teach. The town of Dilepe is no different as Margaret continues to experience prejudice but this time it’s tribal. Like I said it’s a love a story and when Margaret reaches Dilepe two men instantly fall for her - Moleka and Maru. Again, Bessie Head’s writing is always so complex and there’s no difference when it comes to Maru. I do enjoy how she explores oppression and how she simultaneously critiques colonialism and tribalism. However I didn’t like Maru, I found him controlling and manipulative and it could be Bessie Head’s way of showing how manipulative and controlling heads of countries or chiefdoms can be but omg there were times when I wished I could reach into my book and slap him 💀 oh and how could I forget? I loved Dikeledi and Margaret’s friendship so much 😭.
February 25, 2024
WHEN RAIN CLOUDS GATHER
'You may see no rivers on the ground but we keep the rivers inside us. That is why all good things and all good people are called rain. Sometimes we see the rain clouds gather even though not a cloud appears in the sky. It is all in our heart.'
This is a novel of quiet power. A story simply told that creates vivid images of the people and the village of Golema Mmidi in Botswana where Makhaya finds himself after escaping from South Africa.
He's an intelligent man looking for a purpose and in the form of Gilbert, an Englishman on a mission to bring cooperative farming to the area, he finds a like minded friend.
It's about tribal beliefs & customs, the power and blocks put in place by Chief Matenge, drought & climate change bringing death and tragedy to a poor community and the hope that the two outsiders bring to their lives.
There are also strong women characters in this novel with Paulina and Maria in particular playing a big part in the narrative.
One scene brought me to tears, while other events made me angry or full of joy. An emotional & beautiful book.
MARU
'The wind of freedom, which was blowing throughout the world for all people, turned and flowed into the room. As they breathed in the fresh, clear air their humanity awakened.'
A novella that shocked me with the racist attitudes between the people of Botswana where the Masarwa tribe are looked down on as slaves and ignorant bushmen by other tribes.
Margaret is an orphan from the lowly tribe, brought up & educated by a white missionary and it's this education that causes confusion and big changes in a remote village where she takes up a teaching post.
Maru is the chief-in-waiting and the narrative paints him as an almost mystical figure. It's his sister Dikeledi who first befriends Margaret.
Maru's friend Moleka is the other main protagonist in a story of belonging and the power of love but I guarantee you've not read anything like this before.
'You may see no rivers on the ground but we keep the rivers inside us. That is why all good things and all good people are called rain. Sometimes we see the rain clouds gather even though not a cloud appears in the sky. It is all in our heart.'
This is a novel of quiet power. A story simply told that creates vivid images of the people and the village of Golema Mmidi in Botswana where Makhaya finds himself after escaping from South Africa.
He's an intelligent man looking for a purpose and in the form of Gilbert, an Englishman on a mission to bring cooperative farming to the area, he finds a like minded friend.
It's about tribal beliefs & customs, the power and blocks put in place by Chief Matenge, drought & climate change bringing death and tragedy to a poor community and the hope that the two outsiders bring to their lives.
There are also strong women characters in this novel with Paulina and Maria in particular playing a big part in the narrative.
One scene brought me to tears, while other events made me angry or full of joy. An emotional & beautiful book.
MARU
'The wind of freedom, which was blowing throughout the world for all people, turned and flowed into the room. As they breathed in the fresh, clear air their humanity awakened.'
A novella that shocked me with the racist attitudes between the people of Botswana where the Masarwa tribe are looked down on as slaves and ignorant bushmen by other tribes.
Margaret is an orphan from the lowly tribe, brought up & educated by a white missionary and it's this education that causes confusion and big changes in a remote village where she takes up a teaching post.
Maru is the chief-in-waiting and the narrative paints him as an almost mystical figure. It's his sister Dikeledi who first befriends Margaret.
Maru's friend Moleka is the other main protagonist in a story of belonging and the power of love but I guarantee you've not read anything like this before.
March 25, 2021
I didn't realise that this was two separate books in one edition! But I enjoyed them both. Once I adjusted to the pace of the writing, they both drew me in. Both books circle around a small central group of characters and their interrelationships, with both racial and gender dynamics explored. Because the author meticulously describes the thought-processes of these main characters, it reminded me at times of Virginia Woolf. Sometimes, for example when Maru falls in love, the description makes perfect sense, although other times I couldn't really fathom what was going on in a person's mind. But that made it intriguing to read. Having visited Botswana, I loved the descriptions of the bush, the villages with the cooking fires sending up columns of smoke, the sunsets, the birds...These books really took me back to those days and places. One last thing: Maru has a most endearing pair of goats in it, the baby nick-named the Windscreen-wiper because of the constant action of his tail. Such a lovely touch.
July 27, 2019
Ενδιαφέρον αν και η δεύτερη νουβέλα έχει κάποια κουραστικά σημεία...
This book contains two Bessie Head's novels and a prologue by Helen Oyeyemi (which in reality should be an epilogue and I advice you to read after reading the actual novels!)
When Rain Clouds Gather and Maru both depict up to an extend the way of thinking and life in Botswana some decades ago, while the emphasis on both is the human relationships, especially matters of love. Bessie Head had her own opinions about how the world will progress and the book is a good sample of her theories.
While I found both novels interesting with some very good moments, I felt Maru got too far with the protagonists internal life and musings and the weird supernatural connotations with the yellow daisies, the suns and such things...
Looking at the author's tragic life story, I guess one can see where all these come from though...
This book contains two Bessie Head's novels and a prologue by Helen Oyeyemi (which in reality should be an epilogue and I advice you to read after reading the actual novels!)
When Rain Clouds Gather and Maru both depict up to an extend the way of thinking and life in Botswana some decades ago, while the emphasis on both is the human relationships, especially matters of love. Bessie Head had her own opinions about how the world will progress and the book is a good sample of her theories.
While I found both novels interesting with some very good moments, I felt Maru got too far with the protagonists internal life and musings and the weird supernatural connotations with the yellow daisies, the suns and such things...
Looking at the author's tragic life story, I guess one can see where all these come from though...
August 31, 2022
I only read When Rain Clouds Gather but it was PHENOMENAL. It takes place in a village at the border between Botswana and South Africa. Makhaya, flees South Africa and its Apartheid policies, comes to Bbotswana. He befriends Gilbert, a british expat interested in farming practices and furthering womens agriculture in the village. Together they work to introduce ideas about tobacco farming into the village. A novel that explores being an outsider, belonging, womens place, women and men, power, poverty & oppression, strength and love.
Her use of language is beautiful. She uses ascribed feelings or actions that animals may have to evoke the speed at which a sun rises for example: ‘‘So sudden and abrupt was the sunrise that the birds had to pretend they had been awake all the time.’’ Later someones laugh is described as ‘all the glass in the world were being hurled into a deep pit and shrieking in agony”. Her mastery of language is fantastic.
Her use of language is beautiful. She uses ascribed feelings or actions that animals may have to evoke the speed at which a sun rises for example: ‘‘So sudden and abrupt was the sunrise that the birds had to pretend they had been awake all the time.’’ Later someones laugh is described as ‘all the glass in the world were being hurled into a deep pit and shrieking in agony”. Her mastery of language is fantastic.
April 28, 2020
When Rain Clouds Gather and Maru is the sequence of the equally inspiring and much more famous book, "When Rain Clouds Gather".
Being extremely empowering and forward looking for a country like Botswana, bordering South Africa, that didn't just change the approach of the population in investing on a better yeilding crop, but the very approach of being fearful of the change was turned.
Coming from the pen of Bessie Head on of the most influential writers in her country and te world, the story moves forward, to bigger challenges and their solutions. Also at certain aspects of times, you could read between the lines about Head's own time of survival in 50's and the struggles she saw, withing the infra red of the characters.
Just to mention,I took an entire period of 10 months to finish the book to get hold of everything that I would be missing.
Being extremely empowering and forward looking for a country like Botswana, bordering South Africa, that didn't just change the approach of the population in investing on a better yeilding crop, but the very approach of being fearful of the change was turned.
Coming from the pen of Bessie Head on of the most influential writers in her country and te world, the story moves forward, to bigger challenges and their solutions. Also at certain aspects of times, you could read between the lines about Head's own time of survival in 50's and the struggles she saw, withing the infra red of the characters.
Just to mention,I took an entire period of 10 months to finish the book to get hold of everything that I would be missing.
July 19, 2020
Reading Botswana through When Rain Clouds Gather is probably one of my top Reading Africa experiences. Bessie Head’s debut novel is a page-turner that feels natural and realistic. I started out seeing Botswana as an expanse of land; When Rain Clouds Gather did not introduce me to Gaborone and other cities but it did something more important: it populated Botswana with characters I can identify with.
Reading Botswana taught me that “God’s country”, as Dinorego calls it, is the setting for personal struggles just like mine. Makhaya is one of the most relatable heroes I’ve met while Reading Africa. Of course, it helps that he is South African, with all the rage and bitterness and exhaustion which that entails today.
Reading Botswana taught me that “God’s country”, as Dinorego calls it, is the setting for personal struggles just like mine. Makhaya is one of the most relatable heroes I’ve met while Reading Africa. Of course, it helps that he is South African, with all the rage and bitterness and exhaustion which that entails today.
December 8, 2020
Many years ago I had a friend who went back to visit her family in Zimbabwe. They were finding it difficult to feed their chickens because of the price and shortage of grain (this was in the very bad years of Mugabe). She asked why they didn't grow millet which grew well in the area and which they had grown before rather than depend on wheat which was in such short supply. This book helped me understand their reluctance - it was something I hadn't thought of at all and yet it was so obvious.
The stories are not about grain and millet but it was just one tiny bit that let me look at the realities of life in a different culture. The stories are well written, interesting and flow well.
The stories are not about grain and millet but it was just one tiny bit that let me look at the realities of life in a different culture. The stories are well written, interesting and flow well.
January 18, 2018
When Rain Clouds Gather
Majority of the thinking of the Batswana (like me) is still the same in rural villages such as the feelings towards foreigners, food options, love, dynamics between genders. I struggled to digest some ideas that the author clearly thought highly of, such as the foreigners (protagonist and his employer) plan depending on the adjustment of the wealth of the villagers. Otherwise, the relationship between the races in the village mirrored that of my village in North West, South Africa. Very rare around the rest of the country.
Majority of the thinking of the Batswana (like me) is still the same in rural villages such as the feelings towards foreigners, food options, love, dynamics between genders. I struggled to digest some ideas that the author clearly thought highly of, such as the foreigners (protagonist and his employer) plan depending on the adjustment of the wealth of the villagers. Otherwise, the relationship between the races in the village mirrored that of my village in North West, South Africa. Very rare around the rest of the country.
August 4, 2019
Although extremely well written, I found the stories to be a bit boring. If you enjoy African tales that center around agriculture, the defining of an African male, discrimination against lower classes, and tribal tradition in the changing world-- then perhaps take the time to read these serious stories. I preferred Maru to the When Rain Clouds Gather. The stories are heavy and require thinking- not a light read but since I didn't have any other books with me, I made it through!
September 17, 2022
⭐⭐⭐⭐ When Rain Clouds Gather
⭐⭐⭐ Muru
WRCG such a great read, felt like applauding the author when I finished. Was waiting for the plot to turn Steinbeck but with every sign of trouble there is hope and Makhaya and Gilbert to make everything alright.
Muru - maybe I should have read this first, but was so overwhelmed by the first book I couldn't help but compare and it came out a bit short. Still great and cannot wait to read more from this author, so glad I read these books.
⭐⭐⭐ Muru
WRCG such a great read, felt like applauding the author when I finished. Was waiting for the plot to turn Steinbeck but with every sign of trouble there is hope and Makhaya and Gilbert to make everything alright.
Muru - maybe I should have read this first, but was so overwhelmed by the first book I couldn't help but compare and it came out a bit short. Still great and cannot wait to read more from this author, so glad I read these books.
September 14, 2021
This book is wonderful for 9th graders. An excellent read and, at moments, profoundly insightful about the African dilemma. Poverty, exploitation, and political corruption. It is a remarkable novel in many ways.
I have not re-read Maru. I undertook to teach it the Mosheweng Valley, near Kumaru, North Province, SA, long ago. I am just beginning it now.
I have not re-read Maru. I undertook to teach it the Mosheweng Valley, near Kumaru, North Province, SA, long ago. I am just beginning it now.
July 24, 2017
This was very interesting and atmospheric, with plenty of information about the place, but also heart. It also has a lovely clear, simple writing style and was easy and pleasant to read.
July 26, 2019
It's quite fantastic
September 30, 2024
Interesting reading. Two stories about life in Botswana.
January 10, 2025
When rain clothes gather is such a beautiful, elegant, and profound novel. Maru, on the other hand, was not my cup of tea.
May 24, 2025
Much preferred 'When Rain Clouds Gather' to 'Maru'
May 29, 2025
Beautiful.
January 21, 2026
When Rain Clouds Gather ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Maru ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Maru ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
January 1, 2024
book #3 in #read-the-world challenge #Botswana #africa
September 18, 2014
its a very interesting and educative book
April 2, 2016
Well worth reading with great characters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews