We are all Zimbabweans Now
-
- $9.99
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
A bright day dawns over Africa as American student Ben Dabney arrives in Zimbabwe in 1982. He finds a country newly born, its president celebrated around the world. ‘We are all Zimbabweans now!’ exclaims Robert Mugabe in conciliatory largesse. The capital sees rollicking good times, and Ben becomes friendly with the new ruling elite through his love affair with Florence Matshaka, a former guerrilla. Ben’s history research begs awkward questions when he learns about a suspicious car accident that happened during the bush war. At first he gets elusive answers, then threats. In untangling this secret, his optimism wears off layer after layer as he discovers more and more harrowing contradictions. By the time Ben experiences the army’s secret offensive in Matabeleland, the president’s phrase has come to mean that all are affected, all complicit. We Are All Zimbabweans Now is a powerful political thriller, and one of the most remarkable recent novels about Zimbabwe.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At times unfocused and noncommittal, Kilgore's debut novel follows Ben Dabney, a similarly scattered Wisconsin graduate student, as he eagerly attempts to chronicle Zimbabwe's struggle for liberation and subsequent reconciliation under the rule of his admitted idol, Robert Mugabe. After arrogantly refusing to adjust his idealistic views of Mugabe's government at the request of his advisor, Professor Latham, or heed various threats to steer clear of controversial political topics in his research, Ben eventually opens his eyes to the realities and atrocities of the Zimbabwean government. But instead of fighting back, he switches his focus to an easier, less controversial topic, just as he ran from a relationship with a student, and from his estranged daughter in the States. Ben leads a cast of one-dimensional characters who are capable of expressing only the most shallow of human emotions, despite personal tragedy and suffering. Kilgore's story fails to capitalize on potentially intriguing conflicts and character motivations that might have spiced up the dry, textbook-like narrative.
