After the Rains
Emily Barroso
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Buy NowWhy I wrote this book
I grew up in the Rhodesia/Zimbabwe conflict in the 1970’s, and the war shaped me as a person as well as my imagination as a writer. I began writing this book in 2000 during the land seizures in Zimbabwe, having found myself in a state of mourning for my childhood country. During a creative writing exercise on leaving, I began writing about the day my family packed our possessions on the roof of our Morris 1100 and left Rhodesia for South Africa in 1980. It then developed into a novel as I began to examine the effects of the war on individuals on both sides of the conflict. I imagined what it was like to grow up on either side of the political socio-economic divide and then brought those two sides into contact with each other (through the friendship of the young white Rhodesian girl and the young black son of the families’ worker) and then into conflict: through an act of war, in order to see how they would work out their differences. Could they forgive each other and sustain their friendship after the atrocities committed on both sides directly affected each other’s families? Forgiveness is often the only way forward to freedom. Anyone interested in the power of forgiveness in the face of tragedy as well as issues of land and freedom will enjoy this book. This is an intimate portrait told in the first person of a young, spirited girl coming of age, set against a vast backdrop of the upheaval and tragedy of an African war, in which a young girl battles to make sense of her life during the complexities of her time. The novel has universal appeal with its themes of land, loss and longing and of redemption, and in that it shows the ability of the human spirit to overcome against great odds. It is also often quite humorous despite the serious subject matter. In writing this book I was not interested in making a political comment about the rights and wrongs, most of which are obvious. I was more interested in the individual choices that people make in the face of vast political and social pressure. I am fascinated by people who swim upstream despite a powerful tide pulling them in the opposite direction.
Synopsis
Jayne grows up on a farm in the mountains of Zimbabwe, where her closest friend is Enoch, the young African son of one of the farm workers. Following a devastating terrorist attack, during which Jayne defends the farm with her mother and brother, the family move to the city where Jayne strikes up a friendship with the sassy Melanie. Jayne is secretive about her former best friend from the farm, Enoch, as she senses that Mel would not approve of her former friendship, given the segregated society they live in. As Jayne experiences her teenage years she tries to make sense of her tragic and confusing past. She tries to fit in with her new friends who seem to hold the same political and social perspective as her parents, but she is increasingly influenced by the ideas of her aunt, a sociology lecturer at the university. A chance meeting with Enoch at an illegal drinking den in one of the black townships, followed soon after by the death of her sister in a terrorist attack, causes her to vacillate even more, particularly when she begins to suspect that Enoch was involved in the attack. Will she become bitter about the loss of Rhodesia like many of ‘her’ people, or will she find the forgiveness for her loss and the freedom of heart she needs to move on and face the new Zimbabwe?
An adventurous, dramatic and often very funny story, After the Rains is a coming of age novel in two senses. It is the coming of age story of Jayne Cameron: into a social and political awareness that is her own perspective rather than the views of her peer group; but it is also set during the coming of age of post-colonial Rhodesia into the ‘free’ Zimbabwe. The novel is narrated in the first person present tense by Jayne, as it tells the story of her experience of the war, and how it shapes her as an individual as she struggles to come to terms with its impact on her and her family. The novel seeks to look at both ‘sides’ of the war. Does the land belong to black or white Zimbabweans or both? Who is to blame for the atrocities that occurred during the war? The novel does not point the finger at either side, but rather examines the plight of both. This is a powerful, gripping read about land and loss that is ultimately redemptive for Jayne.
About the Author
Emily Barroso was born 1968 in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe to an English mother and Portuguese father. Her mother remarried when she was six and her family moved to South Africa in 1980. This move profoundly affected her and it was partly this sense of dislocation that inspired After the Rains. Emily completed high school at the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg. Before going to university in her late twenties, Emily worked as a fashion model in South-Africa, Japan and London and then as a singer. She has a BA (Hons) in English Literature and an MA (with Merit) in Creative Writing from Middlesex University. She received a Jerwood/Arvon Young Writers Apprenticeship in 2004/5. She helped set up and became chair of the charity Hand in Hand for Asia, after meeting and teaching displaced Burmese people near the Thai/Burma border in 2003 and 2006. Emily has since stepped down from this role. She has written articles on Thailand/Burma and Zimbabwe for opendemocracy.net. For five years, until April 2009, Emily taught Creative Writing and Art in a therapeutic capacity to ex-offenders and those with a history of substance abuse or mental health issues. Emily is married with two children.
Book info
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Genres
Format
Paperback
352 pages pages
Author
Emily Barroso
Publisher
Matador
Publication date
1st August 2011
ISBN
9781848766846
