Parched Earth

Book excerpt: This is an extraordinary first novel by a Tanzanian women writer. The central character, Doreen, tells her story in the first person narrative. Born into a women headed household in a rural area, her inner life and development mirror her life's passage: education, career, the town, marriage and motherhood. Whilst not didactic nor impinging on beautifully crafted writing, the novel deals with gender politics from a local level rather than a western oriented feminist stance. Both fatalism and seperatism are rejected and the book is imbued with insights and touchstones about the female condition.