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A review by stephxsu
The Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda
5.0
I had to read Heart of Redness for my English class, and I am more than glad I got to read it! This is the parallel story of colonized South Africa of 150 years ago and post-apartheid South Africa. 150 years ago, two brothers split over their different beliefs of a teenage prophetess' warning that only the slaughtering of all cattle will allow the new generation of people (the ancestors) to arrive and drive away the whites. The miracle never happened, of course, and many starved as a result.
Now in the present day, the learned man Camagu, born in South Africa but exiled and educated in America, comes to Qolorha-at-Sea, where he lands in the middle of an ongoing battle between the Believers and Unbelievers about whether the development of the lands by the whites' companies is good for their village. There is also a mysterious yet satisfying love story.
Heart of Redness is beautifully written, and Zakes Mda has been compared to the likes of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Chinua Achebe. This is a book that you will devour because it's so well written, and yet it will stay with you as you ponder the pros and cons of the characters' situations.
Now in the present day, the learned man Camagu, born in South Africa but exiled and educated in America, comes to Qolorha-at-Sea, where he lands in the middle of an ongoing battle between the Believers and Unbelievers about whether the development of the lands by the whites' companies is good for their village. There is also a mysterious yet satisfying love story.
Heart of Redness is beautifully written, and Zakes Mda has been compared to the likes of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Chinua Achebe. This is a book that you will devour because it's so well written, and yet it will stay with you as you ponder the pros and cons of the characters' situations.