Parched Earth

This is an extraordinary first novel by a Tanzanian women writer. The central character, Doreen, tells her story in the first person narrative. Born into a women headed household in a rural area, her inner life and development mirror her life's passage: education, career, the town, marriage and motherhood. Whilst not didactic nor impinging on beautifully crafted writing, the novel deals with gender politics from a local level rather than a western oriented feminist stance. Both fatalism and seperatism are rejected and the book is imbued with insights and touchstones about the female condition. "Deep and wise, this love story is perhaps the first feminist novel from Tanzania in English. The story of a women coming to age against the strictures of patriarchy, it is psychologically convincing, told in a style full of suggestive imagery which underlies the themes." - Noma Award Jury Citation