Harare North
Brian Chikwava
When he lands in Harare North, our unnamed protagonist carries nothing but a cardboard suitcase full of memories and a longing to be reunited with his childhood friend, Shingi.
He ends up in Shingi's Brixton squat where the inhabitants function at various levels of desperation. Shingi struggles to find meaningful work and to meet the demands of his family back home; Tsitsi makes a living renting her baby out to women defrauding the Social Services.
As our narrator struggles to make his way in 'Harare North', negotiating life outside the legal economy and battling with the weight of what he has left behind in strife-torn Zimbabwe, every expectation and preconception is turned on its head.
This is the story of a stranger in a strange land - one of the thousands of illegal immigrants seeking a better life in England - with a past he is determined to hide.
Product Details
About Brian Chikwava
Reviews for Harare North
Scotsman
It's the darkest of comedies, fuelled by an eccentric, wholly convincing voice
Observer
An hilarious and wrenching examination of immigrant life... From a prodigiously talented and uncompromising writer
Ali Smith Chikwava has created an utterly compelling anti-hero... Mesmerising
Guardian
A writer to watch. Brian Chikwava's language is lively and witty and it turns the London you know upside down
Maggie Gee Page by page, line by line, Brian has created a perfectly original and true narrative voice. ..Full of surprises, delicious little tics, and real fire-in-the-belly creativity ..but importantly, the voice comes off as effortless, and therefore true....it's a major accomplishment
Tod Wodicka author of All Shall Be Well... Chikwava's sharp irreverent levity...Harare North's wit and suggestiveness'
Mary Fitzgerald
New Statesman
a shocking indictment of the way we treat those who come here seeking a better life
Steve Bloomfield
Independent on Sunday
Chikwava looks to have few problems hooking the reader
Trevor Lewis
Sunday Times
Chikwava gives his anti-hero an unforgettable voice; a fine balance between tragedy and comedy
Kate Saunders
The Times