Harare Review of Books

336 pages.

First published in 2020 by Indigo Press.

Finished reading on Jan 3, 2022.

Genre: Fiction.

Supplied blurb: Harare, 2000. Gabrielle is a newly-qualified lawyer fighting for justice for a young girl. Ben is an urbane and charismatic junior diplomat, attached to Harare with the American embassy. With high-level pressure on Gabrielle to drop her case, and Robert Mugabe’s youth wing terrorising his political opponents as he tightens his grip on power, they begin a tentative love affair. But when both fall victim to a shocking attack, their lives splinter across continents and their stories diverge, forcing Gabrielle on a painful journey towards self-realisation.

I’m going to have to try to create a sandwich for this book review, because I went through the whole gamut of emotions while reading it.

Sabatini wrote The Boy Next Door, a book I was wildly unhappy with; so, I went into this one with much trepidation, and only to co-read with a friend (buddy read, which is a horrible term). I am pleased to say that this is a really good read, covering the period in Zimbabwe from the very late 90s to 2008, with an afterword from 2017 (of course). Unfortunately, I was completely put off by the first 20% or so of the book; and if my buddy of the read had not told me that things would get better in the second half, I would have quit, and missed out.

That first twenty or thirty percent is really bad, just very bad writing. There are the beginnings of a love story, but everything is corny and overdone. It is disjointed, because the love story is told in flashbacks, and it is evident that something terrible is happening to the protagonist, but one feels that the terrible thing is something like the devil in a clown suit. To use a description that’s appropriately applied much later in the book: two thirds evil, one third comedy (although it might be the other way at that point, tbh).

The author also exhibits what I hated in that previous book: a definite meanness towards her setting and the characters we are supposed to hate, so much so that it becomes farcical. Is it clear how much I hate that kind of writing? I especially hate it when it’s about Zimbabwe, as it furthers that ridiculous image of the country that makes everything clownish, without nuance. That’s probably my strongest criticism of the angle this book takes, and how Sabatini writes about Zimbabwe, particularly ZANU PF and Shona people.

And yet. I’m glad you made it through my tirade, because this is what happens: after that, the rest of the book is truly beautiful. Sabatini creates a protagonist who’s complicated, realistically traumatised, and layered; a woman who doesn’t conform to a trope of motherhood, who is a complicated lover, who has major crises to work through. To say I devoured the rest of the book is not an exaggeration.

I really just wish they’d removed that first corny section. It was supposed to serve the purpose of setting up the story, but was just a complete disappointment. Gah.

So, in summary: if you’re a fussy reader, as I am, you’ll hate the first bits; but, press on, as this is a wonderful book. The difficult parts, the parts that explain the trauma of Zimbabwe, are somewhat ruined by unnecessary exaggeration (was there ever a “camp” at Sam Levy? A ridiculous stretch), and I wonder if that isn’t the usual problem when someone who doesn’t live in Zimbabwe tries to piece together a story from what they read in newspapers. The reality is much more grim and far less funny than the exaggerations in this book. But the rest of the book, exploring Gabrielle’s emotional journey, is stellar.

My rating will reflect the problems outlined above, but this is a fine read. I particularly enjoyed reading about Gabriella after she left Harare, and loved the descriptions of her in Bogotá (surreal, bewildered, hurting) and New Haven (a reunion, beginning to heal in a beautiful setting). The contrast between her two romantic relationships is also beautifully done.

So. Rated: 6/10.