Description

Shamiso is a young girl, thoughtful but uncertain, taken by her family from rural Zimbabwe to bustling Harare. As she grows up there, she watches the world: her distant, stern father, her angry stepmother and her father’s strange, loving cousin, the elderly Jimson, who encourages Shamiso to discover her passion for art, her place in their family, and her voice in the world.

When she takes a leap to leave Zimbabwe behind for Brighton, England, Shamiso must find a new family and a new way of living. There she falls in love for the first time with George – whose female identity, Georgie, is everything Shamiso has ever wanted or needed. But can such happiness last, when neither of them knows yet who they truly are?

Quirky, challenging and mischievous, this tender coming-of-age story brilliantly examines selfhood, love and the many shapes family can take. From first moments to final steps, Shamiso is a thought-provoking, blazing work of modern existence and all its contradictions.

Publisher Review

Witty, inventive and sensual — ABDULRAZAK GURNAH, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature A spare, propulsive tale that boldly vaults beyond convention. Shamiso is captivating and utterly original, a vivid reminder of the capacious possibilities of storytelling — TOPE FOLARIN Shamiso is a jewel of a novel that dazzles with ideas on migration, grief, love, time, language and meaning, so economically written that repeat reads are not only rewarded but demanded. It’s a pleasure to read a novel in which such care and consideration is given to each word, each moment — MENDEZ, author of RAINBOW MILK Chikwava gifts us a compelling story of self-discovery, identity and belonging. He writes with such precision and wit that every sentence lands like a well-aimed arrow – sharp, purposeful and impossible to ignore. The novel is a sheer delight to read — CHIKA UNIGWE Brilliant. Combines the thrill of propulsive plot with a remarkable eye for dazzling description and imagery. A rare combination which we as readers should treasure — ANDREW McMILLAN Shamiso is marvellous. Chikwava dazzles with fresh, inventive prose in this quirky coming-of-age tale about a young woman who straddles multiple identities. A novel full of humour and originality. Outstanding — TENDAI HUCHU Chikwava’s fresh and fearless voice is here again: Shamiso sparkles. In this coming-of-age story, it is as if all life forms were connected and fluid in their existence and within this nicely played slippage, he pinpoints how we live, love and move now — DELIA JARRETT-MACAULEY, Winner of the Orwell Prize for Political Writing A blueprint for the hope of true liberation. Laden with insight. Right through the novel’s fascinating cast of characters, one is repeatedly stunned by Chikwava’s descriptive eye [and] cunning wit. For all the laughs it carries, Shamiso is steeped in pride and is an important and timely book — NII AYIKWEI PARKES Propulsive, frenetic and tonally inventive, Brian Chikwava’s coming of age novel, Shamiso, examines the various ways biological family serves as our very inspiration, encouraging us to spread our wings even as it intermittently attempts to draw us back in — CHINELO OKPARANTA A delicious, profound book! Chikwava’s prose leaps off the page with stunning depth and beauty. A rich story, told with a mastery that observes and presents the myriad possibilities of life and time. It asks us to question attitudes about language, class, migrations, gender and all the things that make us love each other. This is a novel that will linger and compel long after we have finished reading — OLUMIDE POPOOLA