INTERVIEW: Na'ima Robert Talks About Her New Novel 'Far From Home'

Submitted by Yemisi Akinbobola on Mon, 18/07/2011 - 12:23pm

Exploring the untold history of Zimbabwe’s land reforms, ‘Far from Home’ tells the story of Katie and Tariro, two girls linked by the painful colonial legacy as their lives play out against the tragic history of the land in Zimbabwe.

14-year-old Tariro is a daughter of the soil: she loves the land, the baobab tree she was born beneath, her family - and brave, handsome Nhamo. She couldn't be happier. But then the white settlers arrive, and everything changes - suddenly, violently - robbing Tariro of all that she loves.

Forty years later, 14-year-old Katie adores her doting father, her exclusive boarding school, and her farm with its baobab tree in rural Zimbabwe. Life is great. Until the land acquisition programme forces the family off the land and to cold, rainy London.

My first impression of Na’ima B Robert’s book ‘Far from Home’, was not very positive. ‘Child-like’, ‘boring’, and ‘innocent’, kept ringing in my mind as I read the first chapter or so.

I felt that Na’ima had not successfully painted the picture in such a way that would fuel the mind of the reader. Particularly, I felt that some narrative by the characters did not match the character or personality of that character.

There was a lack of creativity when describing or telling stories which at times came across as a history lesson. I wrote: “At times I felt it slipped into a history book; the voices of the characters were lost in the author’s eagerness to tell the history of colonialism in Zimbabwe”.

Gradually though, the book ‘started warming up’. I admired the good use of ‘Africanness’ to describe things. For example, “fireflies in the stomach” to describe the anxiety felt by one of the characters.

“Na'ima managed to embed Zimbabwean culture into descriptions; my mind is filled with images of Zimbabwean traditions”, I added, scribbling a tick at the end!

The tempo rose and rose from then on. The book was no longer boring, and the ‘child-like’ criticism became something positive because it was that which made the emotions more real and raw.

This was a book that was not afraid to make you cry.

The sexual assault of Tariro ignited such a fierce reaction in me that I openly cried as I read the passage on the train. My criticism that the book had a somewhat innocence in its writing style was no more, because it was this that brought out the rawness of the descriptions and expressions of emotion.

The narrative about the ‘great removal’ in chapter 11, when Tariro and her family were forced off their land and transferred to the ‘Native Reserve’, really brought home the historic wounds that surrounds the Land Redistribution Programme that has plunged present day Zimbabwe into the political instability that it is currently experiencing.

When one reads such accounts, one cannot help but come to terms with the actions of the war veterans, and subsequently Robert Mugabe, who pushed for the ‘white’ farmers to be forced off ‘their’ lands, and the lands to be redistributed to black Zimbabweans and the war veterans who had fought for their freedom.

In chapter 17, we start to hear the story from the perspective of a young white Zimbabwean girl called Katie. This was one of the greatest achievements of ‘Far from Home’, because just as the anger towards the ‘great removal’, and the atrocities caused by the white settlers, reached a feverish peak, the reader is asked to step back, brought to the year 2000, at the started of the Land Redistribution Programme.

Na’ima told the story of 14 years old Katie who knew nothing of the history of the occupation of Zimbabwe, who did not quite understand why her parents treated their black servants and farm boys badly, and who’s first school friend was a black Zimbabwean girl called Rudo – though she did understand that her parents must never know she had been friends with a black girl.

From her perspective, their farmland was theirs, her family had owned it for years, and she felt a sense of injustice when they were asked to leave the land, and her family had to move back to live a very different life in England; no servants, no acres of land, no sun!

What Na’ima achieved here was not just the offering of a different perspective, but the way it was delivered so that while the reader felt sympathy for Katie, this did not override or discredit the history and suffering of the black Zimbabweans, who had been massacred, had their land stolen, while they worked for white farmers as their servants.

What let down this part of the book, however, was the encounter between Tariro and Katie. This chapter, though necessary to some extent, was predictable, and again plunged into that sense that the writer’s eagerness to tackle this political issue in Zimbabwe took over her artistic storytelling.

I longed for more focus on the realities that Tariro and her family faced when they finally got their land back. Though Na’ima did try to do this to some extent, there was room for greater impact.

Overall, ‘Far from Home’ is a timely book, and a highly recommended read. Atmospheric and epic in scope, the book brings the turbulent history of Zimbabwe to vivid, tangible life, challenging the reader to view it with new eyes.

Click here to purchase 'Far from Home'.

Na’ima B Robert, born Thando Nomhle McLaren, is descended from Scottish Highlanders on her father’s side and the Zulu people on her mother’s side. She was brought up in Harare, Zimbabwe, and graduated from the University of London. Her books include the popular 'From my sisters' lips', and teen novels, 'From Somalia, with love' and 'Boy vs. Girl'. Na'ima has also been published in The Times, The Observer and The Muslim Weekly as well as several online publications, including AfricaBe.com. She is married to a Ghanaian and has four children.

• Art & Entertainment
• Interview
• East Africa