Sindiwe Magona's long awaited collection of superb short stories brings a full range of South African women's expereience brilliantly to light. From the village mother leaving her children to work; the maid in service to the white medem; the black child raped and murdered, Living, Loving and Lying Awake at Night is at once tragic, triumphant, humorous, and sharp, but above all forcefully empowering.
Sindiwe Magona grew up in Transkei village and spent her adolescence on the Cape Flats. She is the author of Forced to Grow and To My Children's Children.
Reviews
"Her book is of excruciating beauty and yet covered by a mantle of hope and love... From the very first lines of this book you know you are in the hands of a powerful wordmaker..."
-Morning Star (U.K.)
" Sindiwe Magona's Living, Loving and Lying Awake at Night rips away apartheid's shroud which hovers over lives, loves and losses of South African women with a ferocity that is both startling and enlightening... [It] is a riveting look at the triumph of will and spirit in the face of apartheid's dehumanization. Magona has given us endearing characters and probing stories that are as authoritative as they are unforgettable. "
-Quarterly Black Review of Books
" Magona is a storyteller centered in her power, convinced of the universal relevance of what she sees. The effect is felt like the strong South African sun, each story's momentum like the pounding of a drum."
Living, Loving and Lying Awake at Night
Sindiwe Magona's long awaited collection of superb short stories brings a full range of South African women's expereience brilliantly to light. From the village mother leaving her children to work; the maid in service to the white medem; the black child raped and murdered, Living, Loving and Lying Awake at Night is at once tragic, triumphant, humorous, and sharp, but above all forcefully empowering.
