This is a touching, warmly told story of a Zimbabwean family, as revealed through a mother's letters to her daughter, Zenzele, on Zenzele's immanent departure to study at Harvard. Through a mother's careful, vivid remembrances, we see Zenzele's past as well as her future, her difficulty in accepting her family's humble roots in a rural Zimbabwean village, and the wisdom of her culture, which some day she will come to embrace. In addition to this wonderful portrait of a family, the reader becomes acquainted with a voice not often heard in "mainstream" Western literature, the voice of the black African woman. Zenzele's mother tells her own story, that of a woman who, though not a foot soldier in the struggle against colonization, nevertheless plays a vital role in the fight for independence. An excellent book and an unusual opportunity for the American reading public

This is a touching, warmly told story of a Zimbabwean family, as revealed through a mother's letters to her daughter, Zenzele, on Zenzele's immanent departure to study at Harvard. Through a mother's careful, vivid remembrances, we see Zenzele's past as well as her future, her difficulty in accepting her family's humble roots in a rural Zimbabwean village, and the wisdom of her culture, which some day she will come to embrace. In addition to this wonderful portrait of a family, the reader becomes acquainted with a voice not often heard in "mainstream" Western literature, the voice of the black African woman. Zenzele's mother tells her own story, that of a woman who, though not a foot soldier in the struggle against colonization, nevertheless plays a vital role in the fight for independence. An excellent book and an unusual opportunity for the American reading public

A great book club book. This is one of my favorite books and I have found few women who have not loved this book. The language is poignant and full of warmth. It teaches us to maintain our roots, and the beauty in all humankind. I learn about the beauty inherent in places and people whom I can only know in stories. The stories touch your soul. Beauty is not what you own, whom you know, but what you bring to the world and who you are. How can you be a beautiful neurosurgeon and write this well. It is simply not fair !!!!