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An Elegy for Easterly
An Elegy for Easterly: Stories | Petina Gappah
4 posts | 2 read | 4 to read
A woman in a township in Zimbabwe is surrounded by throngs of dusty children but longs for a baby of her own; an old man finds that his new job making coffins at No Matter Funeral Parlor brings unexpected riches; a politician's widow stands quietly by at her husband's funeral, watching his colleagues bury an empty casket. Petina Gappah's characters may have ordinary hopes and dreams, but they are living in a world where a loaf of bread costs half a million dollars, where wives can't trust even their husbands for fear of AIDS, and where people know exactly what will be printed in the one and only daily newspaper because the news is always, always good. In her spirited debut collection, the Zimbabwean writer Petina Gappah brings us the resilience and inventiveness of the people who struggle to live under Robert Mugabe's regime. She takes us across the city of Harare, from the townships beset by power cuts to the manicured lawns of privilege and corruption, where wealthy husbands keep their first wives in the "big houses" while their unofficial second wives wait in the "small houses," hoping for a promotion. Despite their circumstances, the characters in An Elegy for Easterly are more than victims—they are all too human, with as much capacity to inflict pain as to endure it. They struggle with the larger issues common to all people everywhere: failed promises, unfulfilled dreams, and the yearning for something to anchor them to life.
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review
suzisteffen
Pickpick

These stories were elegant, cynical, sad, and more sexist than I‘d like. I‘m interested in reading her later work to see if it keeps being so ... so depressing , really, but well-written:

blurb
suzisteffen
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Enjoying the great writing in these literary, painful short stories, which are so far set in Zimbabwe (unnamed in the first two stories, but very clear). Stretching my pleasure out by reading only one per day even when I want to SNAP THEM ALL UP. Looking forward to reading the novel I bought by the author as well.

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blurb
suzisteffen
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Ready to dive into these stories! After I read A Grain of Wheat in February, I went looking for books by women from East and southern Africa, and I bought two of Gappah‘s books. Now is the time! She is from Zimbabwe, has written MANY books in English and Shona, and currently lives in Berlin (according to Wikipedia & the Guardian). #shortstories

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quote
shawnmooney
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Lindy And I thought it was going to be hard to get used to thousands … 💴 5y
36 likes1 comment