NoViolet Bulawayo

From the award-winning author of the Booker-prize finalist We Need New Names, a blockbuster of a novel that chronicles the fall of an oppressive regime, and the chaotic, kinetic potential for real liberation that rises in its wake. Glory centers around the unexpected fall of Old Horse, a long-serving leader of a fictional country, and the drama that follows for a rumbustious nation of animals on the path to true liberation. Inspired by the unexpected fall by coup, in November 2017, of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president of nearly four decades, Bulawayo's bold, vividly imagined novel shows a country imploding, narrated by a chorus of animal voices who unveil the ruthlessness and cold strategy required to uphold the illusion of absolute power, and the imagination and bullet-proof optimism to overthrow it completely. As with her debut novel We Need New Names, Bulawayo's fierce voice and lucid imagery immerses us in the daily life of a traumatized nation, revealing the dazzling life force and irrepressible wit that lies barely concealed beneath the surface of seemingly bleak circumstances. At the center of this tumult is Destiny, who has returned to Jidada from exile to bear witness to revolution--and focus on the unofficial history and the potential legacy of the women who have quietly pulled the strings in this country. The animal kingdom--its connection to our primal responses and resonance in the mythology, folktales, and fairytales that define cultures the world over--unmasks the surreality of contemporary global politics to help us understand our world more clearly, even as Bulwayo plucks us right out of it. Glory is a blockbuster, an exhilarating ride, and crystalizes a turning point in history with the texture and nuance that only the greatest of fiction can.

NoViolet Bulawayo’s bold new novel follows the fall of the Old Horse, the long-serving leader of a fictional country, and the drama that follows for a rumbustious nation of animals on the path to true liberation. Inspired by the unexpected fall by coup in November 2017 of Robert G. Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president of nearly four decades, Glory shows a country’s imploding, narrated by a chorus of animal voices that unveil the ruthlessness required to uphold the illusion of absolute power and the imagination and bulletproof optimism to overthrow it completely. By immersing readers in the daily lives of a population in upheaval, Bulawayo reveals the dazzling life force and irresistible wit that lie barely concealed beneath the surface of seemingly bleak circumstances. And at the center of this tumult is Destiny, a young goat who returns to Jidada to bear witness to revolution—and to recount the unofficial history and the potential legacy of the females who have quietly pulled the strings here. The animal kingdom—its connection to our primal responses and its resonance in the mythology, folktales, and fairy tales that define cultures the world over—unmasks the surreality of contemporary global politics to help us understand our world more clearly, even as Bulawayo plucks us right out of it. Although Zimbabwe is the immediate inspiration for this thrilling story, Glory was written in a time of global clamor, with resistance movements across the world challenging different forms of oppression. Thus it often feels like Bulawayo captures several places in one blockbuster allegory, crystallizing a turning point in history with the texture and nuance that only the greatest fiction can.

NoViolet Bulawayo nasceu em 1981, no Zimbábue, e fez parte da primeira geração nascida depois da independência oficial do país. Sua infância se passou, portanto, sob um clima de confiança, estabilidade e esperança. Muito diferente do cenário em que vivem Darling, Bastard, Chipo, Godknows, Sbho e Stina, as crianças com nomes peculiares que figuram em Precisamos de novos nomes, seu romance de estreia. Essas crianças a cada dia tentam fugir de Paraíso, o aglomerado de barracos de zinco onde elas e suas famílias vivem desde que suas antigas casas foram demolidas violentamente a mando do governo. As fugas são para perto, para Budapeste, o bairro vizinho onde roubam as goiabas do quintal das casas das famílias brancas e ricas, ou ainda com as brincadeiras que criam para se distrair do cotidiano entediante sem escola nem comida: fingem procurar Bin Laden para ganhar a recompensa do governo americano; criam um jogo em que os países mais poderosos invadem os países menores. As fugas acontecem também quando sentem um misto de vergonha e empolgação ao se aglomerarem ao redor dos carros das ongs que lhes trazem presentes e roupas inadequadas. Mas é a vida de Darling, a protagonista-narradora, que o romance acompanha. A menina de dez anos que conhecemos em suas brincadeiras no Paraíso, sonha com o dia em que morará na América. Esse dia finalmente chega e Darling terá de enfrentar o frio, a saudade de sua família e de seus amigos e a adaptação nesse país que nunca vai se tornar o seu país de fato, mas que mudará seu sotaque, moldará o olhar do mundo e a afastará, irremediavelmente, de sua terra natal. Precisamos de novos nomes é um romance de formação, cuja protagonista ao mesmo tempo precisa enfrentar as novidades da adolescência e da vida adulta que chega e se adaptar a uma terra onde sempre será estrangeira. Os assassinatos políticos, o estupro, o charlatanismo de alguns religiosos, a aids, a fome, enfim, tudo aquilo que a imprensa ocidental reafirma a respeito dos países africanos estão neste livro, mas muito distintamente contada por uma voz ao mesmo tempo cruel e inocente, a voz de uma criança sensível, esperta e sonhadora.

An exciting literary debut: the unflinching and powerful story of a young girl's journey out of Zimbabwe and to America. Darling is only ten years old, and yet she must navigate a fragile and violent world. In Zimbabwe, Darling and her friends steal guavas, try to get the baby out of young Chipo's belly, and grasp at memories of Before. Before their homes were destroyed by paramilitary policemen, before the school closed, before the fathers left for dangerous jobs abroad. But Darling has a chance to escape: she has an aunt in America. She travels to this new land in search of America's famous abundance only to find that her options as an immigrant are perilously few. NoViolet Bulawayo's debut calls to mind the great storytellers of displacement and arrival who have come before her--from Junot Diaz to Zadie Smith to J.M. Coetzee--while she tells a vivid, raw story all her own.

'There are times, though, that no matter how much food I eat, I find the food does nothing for me, like I am hungry for my country and nothing is going to fix that'This is the story of Darling, uprooted from her family home by paramilitary police, and living in a Zimbabwean shanty called Paradise. Despite the turmoil, she revels in mischief and adventures with her friends, like stealing guavas from the rich neighbourhood, and singing Lady Gaga at the top of her voice.But when Darling has a chance to forge a different life in America, she realises that this new paradise brings its own set of challenges. In We Need New Names a spirited girl grows into a powerful observer of global identity.Meet ten of literature's most iconic heroines, jacketed in bold portraits by female photographers from around the world.