When Rain Clouds Gather - Softcover

Bessie Head

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1478607599 ISBN 13: 9781478607595

Publisher: Waveland Press, Inc., 2013

Synopsis

Rural Botswana is the backdrop for When Rain Clouds Gather, the first novel published by one of Africa's leading woman writers in English, Bessie Head (1937-1986). Inspired by her own traumatic life experiences as an outcast in Apartheid South African society and as a refugee living at the Bamangwato Development Association Farm in Botswana, Head's tough and telling classic work is set in the poverty-stricken village of Golema Mmidi, a haven to exiles. A South African political refugee and an Englishman join forces to revolutionize the villagers' traditional farming methods, but their task is fraught with hazards as the pressures of tradition, opposition from the local chief, and the unrelenting climate threaten to divide and devastate the fragile community.

Head's layered, compelling story confronts the complexities of such topics as social and political change, conflict between science and traditional ways, tribalism, the role of traditional African chiefs, religion, race relations, and male female relations.

Other titles by Bessie Head available from Waveland Press: The Collector of Treasures and Other Botswana Village Tales (ISBN 9781478607601); Maru (ISBN 9781478607618); and A Question of Power (ISBN 9781478634690).

Other titles by African writers from Waveland Press:

Amadi, The Concubine (ISBN 9781478634607)

Andreas, The Purple Violet of Oshaantu (ISBN 9781478634584)

Ba, So Long a Letter (ISBN 9781577668060)

Campbell, My Children Have Faces (ISBN 13 9781478635017)

Kubuitsile, The Scattering (ISBN 9781478634591)

La Guma, In the Fog of the Seasons' End (ISBN 9781478600251)

Marechera, The House of Hunger (ISBN 9781478604730)

Nwapa, Efuru (ISBN 9781478611011)

p'Bitek, Song of Lawino & Song of Ocol (ISBN 9781478604723)

Plaatje, Mhudi (ISBN 9781478609575)

Rifaat, Distant Views of a Minaret and Other Short Stories (ISBN 9781478611288)

About this title

About the Author:

Bessie Head, one of Africa's best known writers, was born in South Africa but spent much of her life in Botswana. She died tragically early, in 1986, leaving behind her a fine collection of literary works. Tales of Tenderness and Power was the first of her works to be published after her death, and another anthology, A Woman Alone, has also been published posthumously. Both these titles reinforce Bessie Head's literary achievements, already evident in her novels Maru, When Rain clouds Gather, The Cardinals, A Collector of Treasures, A Question of Power, and her historical account Serowe: Village of the Rain Wind, which are all available in the Heinemann African Writer Series.

Review:

"I am grateful that Waveland has provided reliable editions of Bessie Head's works, especially When Rain Clouds Gather. The notes and glossary are helpful to first-time readers. The overall quality and price of these editions make them an excellent choice for my courses." --Melisa Klimaszewski, Drake University

About this edition

• Publisher: Waveland Press, Inc.
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1478607599
• ISBN 13: 9781478607595
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 186