A riveting read, Lauri Kubuitsile's historical novel, The Scattering, about love lost, is intense, bitter-sweet and unforgettable. For any Namibian, it will not be an easy read for essentially one reason: the story cuts too close to the bone. For as I am writing this review, the Herero and Nama cultural groups of Namibia, with the support of the Namibian government, are in the process of engaging the German government of Angela Merkel, regarding the 1904 - 1907 genocide.
The Scattering has two female protagonists, Tjipuka and Riette, and their poignant stories develop against the backgrounds of the Herero-Namaqua genocide in German South-West Africa (DSWA), 1904 - 1907, and the Second Anglo-Boer War in the South Africa, 1899 - 1902, respectively. Tjipuka is a member of the Herero tribe of Okahandja and Riette, an Afrikaner woman from the farming community in South Africa. Their lives, dreams and ambitions are irrevocably changed by the onset of war, Tjipuka, and, in Riette's case, the heavy hand of tradition and patriarchy. Their disparate paths cross in the village of Tsau, in British Bechuanaland (currently Botswana), at a point when both women also battle ostracism from their original communities.
The novel is dominated by the story of Tjipuka of Okahandja, the wife of Ruhapo. Her wants and needs are simple: to love her husband, be a good wife, homemaker and mother. After the birth of their son, her tribe, including her husband, Ruhapo, is engaged in war against the Germans settling on their land. The background politics to Tjipuka's anxiety at her husband's decision to go to war, is the betrayal of his own people by their paramount chief, Samuel Maharero. The author delves, in simple yet powerful sentences, into the brutality of the German soldiers 'hunting' for Herero in the Omaheke desert and, here, Kubuitsile does not shy away from describing in detail the horrors of the massacre that followed; bleeding bodies in the sand, children maimed and killed, the rape and murder of Herero women, including those who surrendered after hiding in the desert without food and water. Tjipuka and her son, separated from Ruhapo during the genocide, end up in Luderitz, on Shark Island, a prisoner and a slave. Ruhapo, convinced his wife and son were killed by the Germans, crosses the border into Bechuanaland and seeks shelter in the village of Tsau.
Riette's story begins on a farm in South Africa. Eager to flee her conservative, restrictive, patriarchal home, a young Riette has ambitions to become a nurse at the hospital in Kimberley. She passes the examinations and receives a letter of acceptance from the hospital only to be forced by her abusive father into marrying a neighbouring farmer, a widower with personal needs and two young children in need of a mother, while he tends to the business of the farm. Her difficult life on the farm is shattered when the Second Anglo-Boer War erupts and finally ends when British soldiers, going from farm to farm, burn down the farmhouse, destroy and kill their crops and animals. Riette and the children are taken to a concentration camp where they are held as prisoners of war by the British until the Boer commandos surrender or are defeated. Again, Kubuitsile delves into the horrors of the lives of the Afrikaner women and children in the concentration camps; the diseases, deaths, uprisings and violent suppression.
Kubuitsile is a skilled storyteller albeit with tremendous compassion for her protagonists. She narrates her characters in such a way as to make them likeable. Her storytelling is also linear. She begins both Tjipuka and Riette's stories by giving the reader a complete introduction to the characters, their lives and political contexts. It is however, their flawed humanity in the face of adversity, which makes them unforgettable. Both women have dreams; one, Tjipuka, dreams of having her own family and a harmonious home-life, and the other, Riette, of a career as a professional away from an oppressive and limiting culture. In the village of Tsau, the women meet as survivors of two wars, against all odds. In addition to it being a good story, the book also demonstrates the author's thorough research into the two major wars of that era and their devastating impacts on the lives of ordinary people.
I have two criticisms and they could be considered relatively minor with reference to the extant work. The first is the image on the cover of the book and relates to its visible appeal. It is an unremarkable image of the dunes of the Namib Desert and would have been more suitable as the cover image of a tome treating the fauna and flora in (any) desert. Kubuitsile's book is incredibly rich in human culture, history and heritage and the cover of the book makes but oblique reference to the aforementioned in the discarded and broken gourds in the bottom left corner and the shadowy figures in the distance.
The second criticism relates to Riette's story. Tjipuka's character, her trials and anguish, is fully developed and stands alone in the richness of its narrative like a flower in full bloom up to the very end, while Riette's character starts off very well and almost disappears from the scene as soon as she leaves for Tsau. After I finished reading the book, I wondered, what had happened to Riette in the interim? Between settling down at Tsau, opening a general dealer and meeting Tjipuka there? Kubuitsile is so detailed in her storytelling, Riette such a rebel, a personality who attracts drama, and the reader so embroiled in the lives of the characters, it is only natural, I suppose, to wonder what happened to the rest of Riette's story.
That said, The Scattering is well-written, informative, truly unforgettable, invokes emotion and the ending of the book will come as a surprise. It is a must-read for Namibians. I should also add that for the longest time after closing the book, Tjipuka's essence and spirit haunted me, so much so that I am convinced she is still out there, somewhere in our country, wandering about in the Omaheke desert, searching for all she had lost. Order this great book from Book Buddy Namibia at bookbuddynamibia@gmail.com.
The Scattering has two female protagonists, Tjipuka and Riette, and their poignant stories develop against the backgrounds of the Herero-Namaqua genocide in German South-West Africa (DSWA), 1904 - 1907, and the Second Anglo-Boer War in the South Africa, 1899 - 1902, respectively. Tjipuka is a member of the Herero tribe of Okahandja and Riette, an Afrikaner woman from the farming community in South Africa. Their lives, dreams and ambitions are irrevocably changed by the onset of war, Tjipuka, and, in Riette's case, the heavy hand of tradition and patriarchy. Their disparate paths cross in the village of Tsau, in British Bechuanaland (currently Botswana), at a point when both women also battle ostracism from their original communities.
The novel is dominated by the story of Tjipuka of Okahandja, the wife of Ruhapo. Her wants and needs are simple: to love her husband, be a good wife, homemaker and mother. After the birth of their son, her tribe, including her husband, Ruhapo, is engaged in war against the Germans settling on their land. The background politics to Tjipuka's anxiety at her husband's decision to go to war, is the betrayal of his own people by their paramount chief, Samuel Maharero. The author delves, in simple yet powerful sentences, into the brutality of the German soldiers 'hunting' for Herero in the Omaheke desert and, here, Kubuitsile does not shy away from describing in detail the horrors of the massacre that followed; bleeding bodies in the sand, children maimed and killed, the rape and murder of Herero women, including those who surrendered after hiding in the desert without food and water. Tjipuka and her son, separated from Ruhapo during the genocide, end up in Luderitz, on Shark Island, a prisoner and a slave. Ruhapo, convinced his wife and son were killed by the Germans, crosses the border into Bechuanaland and seeks shelter in the village of Tsau.
Riette's story begins on a farm in South Africa. Eager to flee her conservative, restrictive, patriarchal home, a young Riette has ambitions to become a nurse at the hospital in Kimberley. She passes the examinations and receives a letter of acceptance from the hospital only to be forced by her abusive father into marrying a neighbouring farmer, a widower with personal needs and two young children in need of a mother, while he tends to the business of the farm. Her difficult life on the farm is shattered when the Second Anglo-Boer War erupts and finally ends when British soldiers, going from farm to farm, burn down the farmhouse, destroy and kill their crops and animals. Riette and the children are taken to a concentration camp where they are held as prisoners of war by the British until the Boer commandos surrender or are defeated. Again, Kubuitsile delves into the horrors of the lives of the Afrikaner women and children in the concentration camps; the diseases, deaths, uprisings and violent suppression.
Kubuitsile is a skilled storyteller albeit with tremendous compassion for her protagonists. She narrates her characters in such a way as to make them likeable. Her storytelling is also linear. She begins both Tjipuka and Riette's stories by giving the reader a complete introduction to the characters, their lives and political contexts. It is however, their flawed humanity in the face of adversity, which makes them unforgettable. Both women have dreams; one, Tjipuka, dreams of having her own family and a harmonious home-life, and the other, Riette, of a career as a professional away from an oppressive and limiting culture. In the village of Tsau, the women meet as survivors of two wars, against all odds. In addition to it being a good story, the book also demonstrates the author's thorough research into the two major wars of that era and their devastating impacts on the lives of ordinary people.
I have two criticisms and they could be considered relatively minor with reference to the extant work. The first is the image on the cover of the book and relates to its visible appeal. It is an unremarkable image of the dunes of the Namib Desert and would have been more suitable as the cover image of a tome treating the fauna and flora in (any) desert. Kubuitsile's book is incredibly rich in human culture, history and heritage and the cover of the book makes but oblique reference to the aforementioned in the discarded and broken gourds in the bottom left corner and the shadowy figures in the distance.
The second criticism relates to Riette's story. Tjipuka's character, her trials and anguish, is fully developed and stands alone in the richness of its narrative like a flower in full bloom up to the very end, while Riette's character starts off very well and almost disappears from the scene as soon as she leaves for Tsau. After I finished reading the book, I wondered, what had happened to Riette in the interim? Between settling down at Tsau, opening a general dealer and meeting Tjipuka there? Kubuitsile is so detailed in her storytelling, Riette such a rebel, a personality who attracts drama, and the reader so embroiled in the lives of the characters, it is only natural, I suppose, to wonder what happened to the rest of Riette's story.
That said, The Scattering is well-written, informative, truly unforgettable, invokes emotion and the ending of the book will come as a surprise. It is a must-read for Namibians. I should also add that for the longest time after closing the book, Tjipuka's essence and spirit haunted me, so much so that I am convinced she is still out there, somewhere in our country, wandering about in the Omaheke desert, searching for all she had lost. Order this great book from Book Buddy Namibia at bookbuddynamibia@gmail.com.
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