Book review
Mohale Mashigo’s debut novel The Yearning marries modernity and tradition to create a bewitching addition to South Africa’s literary landscape
My mother died seven times before she gave birth to me.” With this opening sentence Mohale Mashigo introduces her theme, in lucid magical realism. You are pulled into the protagonist's world from the onset.
The Yearning is Mohale Mashigo's debut novel, boldly told in the first person. Events are seen through the eyes of Marubini, a marketing executive at a wine farm near Cape Town. Marubini, known as Rubi to her friends, seems to be a functioning adult. She has a good job, a nice boyfriend and friends who enjoy her company. Everything is fine – until the yearning of the title awakens in her. We go back to Rubi's childhood, when she spends most of her time with her grandfather. He takes care of her, nurtures her and believes in her. He tells her stories about their family, he cooks for her and plays murabaraba with her. They have a beautiful relationship. Then her grandfather fall ill, and dies.
“Something was wrong inside me, but I didn't know how to tell anyone,” Rubi says. “The teachers didn't seem cross with me anymore. Now they looked at me strangely.” After her grandfather's death, she has to wrestle with many emotions, emotions she can't quite place or explain.
Rubi's yearning has its roots in her grandfather's death. It is here that you see her longing for a map or a compass to direct her into a place of healing.
But even before the death, something happened to her. This prior incident stays in the corners of her mind.
An awakening
Years later, the adult Rubi starts to fall apart, first in her apartment and then at work.
Everything around her has voices, and the walls in her apartment are caving in on her. Her bathtub wants to drown her. School children are loudly singing songs around her. Her own mind is turning on her. She starts having seizures, and lands up in hospital.
But were they really seizures? Why were those children singing so violently in her ear? What is she waking up to?
The themes of loss, healing and consciousness make The Yearning a strong novel. Rubi must first unravel a loss she never knew existed, confront its existence and then break free from its bondage. She must first wake up.The awakening is metaphorical and spiritual – much like the novel itself.
The Yearning is an enchantment. Mashigo is not afraid to marry African traditions with those of modernity to help find a cure for Rubi. Both traditions are treated with respect. Both are believable, and Rubi – a well-educated woman – decides for herself which she prefers for her healing journey.
Zakes Mda, the veteran South African author and playwright, has high praise for The Yearning: “A bewitching addition to the current South African literary boom. Mohale Mashigo tells her story with charming lucidity, disarming characterisation, subversive wisdom and subtle humour.”
It is an important novel, especially at a time when the world is waking up to the horrors of human trafficking and the abuse of women and children. Mohale manages to make these issues personal, gives them a context, and provides a route to healing.
Mohale Mashigo's debut novel The Yearning marries modernity with African tradition to create a bewitching addition to the current South African literary boom.