Category Archives: African Literature

The Boy Next Door by Irene Sabatini

Synopsis: A Zimbabwean woman strikes up a friendship with a white neighbor suspected of arson, and their lives become inextricably linked. Review: First-time author Irene Sabatini has a marvelous (or should I say, “lekker”) ear for the distinct vernacular rhythms of her native Zimbabwe. In The Boy Next Door, she chronicles a most unconventional love story that begins against the backdrop of the transition from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe. Later, the story settles amid an Africa in flux, dealing with issues of racial and national identity,…

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