Living, Loving and Lying Awake at Night - Softcover

Magona, Sindiwe

3.9

114 ratings by Goodreads

9780864866462: Living, Loving and Lying Awake at Night

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0864866461 ISBN 13: 9780864866462

Publisher: New Africa Books, 2012

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Short stories exploring the lives and circumstances of African women in South Africa, all told with insight humor and vitality, this collection is a forceful document of injustices. In the opening story, a woman leaves her mud hut--and her five young children--to flee to the misty mountains beyond her village. She had been awake at night, in despair, considering where their next meal would come from. Her move is incomprehensible--the youngest child is still nursing. Then one comment gives meaning to the whole: "To be a good mother I must leave." Her mother-in-law will take over, she hopes. It is only later that we learn, she has become hired help in a white household to earn money to support her family.

This collection of superb short stories was voted one of Africa's Best 100 Books.

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About the Author:

After achieving degrees from UNISA and Columbia University, SINDIWE MAGONA started working for the United Nations Organizations in New York where she stayed for nine years. At the end of 2002, Sindiwe finally returned to her home country and now lives in Marina da Gama. She wrote many award winning novels after To My Children’s Children, which includes Forced to Grow, Push-Push and other stories, Living, Loving and Lying Awake at Night and Mother to Mother, which has now been made to a major feature film. In April this year, she was awarded with Order of iKhamanga Bronze medal award by the President at the Union Buildings.

From Booklist:

Both tragic and seemingly inconsequential events are equally important--and equally poetically rendered--in these stories of South African women's lives. This collection is a forceful document of injustices. The voices that emerge are elegant and moving in their simplicity. In the opening story, a woman leaves her mud hut--and her five young children--to flee to the misty mountains beyond her village. She had been awake at night, in despair, considering where their next meal would come from. Her move is incomprehensible--the youngest child is still nursing. Then one comment gives meaning to the whole: "To be a good mother I must leave." Her mother-in-law will take over, she hopes. It is only later that we learn, she has become hired help in a white household to earn money to support her family. Magona is a storyteller centered in her power, convinced of the universal relevance of what she sees. The effect is felt like the strong South African sun, each story's momentum like the pounding of a drum. Deanna Larson-Whiterod

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