From Library Journal
This implausible memoir is from a woman who experienced extreme adversity, suffering the loss of six children and her husband and then struggling to support her remaining family as a domestic worker. It is the narrative of a woman with a primary education who speaks eight languages and once had a prosperous farm. Nthunya is also a storyteller, relating how her mother was expected to marry someone her father selected for her, thereby collecting a bride-price. But her mother prayed that she would die, only to have her father and husband-to-be pass away instead. Another tale concerns the author's brother-in-law, who put a cruel spell on her and her children after her husband died because she wouldn't allow him to step in as their father, as is the custom. Eventually, three of her sons died, and she blamed her brother-in-law. A tragic, depressing look at life in South Africa; recommended for collections in African folklore.?Ann Burns, "Library Journal"Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
An African woman's poignant and beautifully crafted memoir lyrically portrays the brutal poverty and reliance on ritual that shape the lives of her people, the Basotho. Though set in Lesotho and South Africa, hers is not a story of apartheid and racism per se, although both are a subtext of Nthunya's stories. Rather, it is a rare glimpse into the almost exclusively black African world and culture of the Basotho. It is the story of Nthunya's almost unimaginably hard life: a childhood without clothing, shoes, or food (she literally ate grass); the mother she vividly brings to life, a devout Roman Catholic who inspires her daughter's resilience and belief in God and transcendence; the death of her husband and murders of her children, brother, and father; work as a domestic to support her children. Among the most fascinating aspects of her narrative are the unbending rules of custom and ritual that determine everything from marriage to everyday activities. Yet this is not a dark book. It is filled with Nthunya's love of natural beauty, as well as her sense of humor, hope, and dreams. Nthunya's story might have been suffused with resentment and rage, but it is not. She does not dictate our emotions, but extracts them through the power of her voice. The single exception is Nthunya's warning about poverty and the jealousy it incites. In her stories she reveals how jealousy corrupts and destroys. She concludes with a warning and a dream for her people: ``Maybe if there is one day enough for the hunger to stop, we can stop being so jealous of one another. If the jealousy is no more, we can begin to have dreams for each other.'' A commanding and important work that will captivate readers with its unique voice, narrative power, and unforgettable scenes of life in southern Africa. (17 b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A compelling and unique autobiography by an African woman with little formal education, less privilege, and almost no experience of books or writing. Mpho's voice is a voice almost never heard in literature or history, a voice from within the struggle of "ordinary" African women to negotiate a world which incorporates ancient pastoral ways and the congestion, brutality, and racist violence of city life. It is also the voice of a born storyteller who has a subject worthy of her gifts - a story for all the world to hear.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

This implausible memoir is from a woman who experienced extreme adversity, suffering the loss of six children and her husband and then struggling to support her remaining family as a domestic worker. It is the narrative of a woman with a primary education who speaks eight languages and once had a prosperous farm. Nthunya is also a storyteller, relating how her mother was expected to marry someone her father selected for her, thereby collecting a bride-price. But her mother prayed that she would die, only to have her father and husband-to-be pass away instead. Another tale concerns the author's brother-in-law, who put a cruel spell on her and her children after her husband died because she wouldn't allow him to step in as their father, as is the custom. Eventually, three of her sons died, and she blamed her brother-in-law. A tragic, depressing look at life in South Africa; recommended for collections in African folklore.Ann Burns, "Library Journal"

Kirkus Reviews

An African woman's poignant and beautifully crafted memoir lyrically portrays the brutal poverty and reliance on ritual that shape the lives of her people, the Basotho.

Though set in Lesotho and South Africa, hers is not a story of apartheid and racism per se, although both are a subtext of Nthunya's stories. Rather, it is a rare glimpse into the almost exclusively black African world and culture of the Basotho. It is the story of Nthunya's almost unimaginably hard life: a childhood without clothing, shoes, or food (she literally ate grass); the mother she vividly brings to life, a devout Roman Catholic who inspires her daughter's resilience and belief in God and transcendence; the death of her husband and murders of her children, brother, and father; work as a domestic to support her children. Among the most fascinating aspects of her narrative are the unbending rules of custom and ritual that determine everything from marriage to everyday activities. Yet this is not a dark book. It is filled with Nthunya's love of natural beauty, as well as her sense of humor, hope, and dreams. Nthunya's story might have been suffused with resentment and rage, but it is not. She does not dictate our emotions, but extracts them through the power of her voice. The single exception is Nthunya's warning about poverty and the jealousy it incites. In her stories she reveals how jealousy corrupts and destroys. She concludes with a warning and a dream for her people: "Maybe if there is one day enough for the hunger to stop, we can stop being so jealous of one another. If the jealousy is no more, we can begin to have dreams for each other."

A commanding and important work that will captivate readers with its unique voice, narrative power, and unforgettable scenes of life in southern Africa.