BULAWAYO - The first novel by Bryony Rheam has been published by amaBooks. The novel, This September Sun, is a chronicle of the lives of two women, the romantic Evelyn and her granddaughter Ellie, from the time Evelyn arrives in the country in 1946 to the present day. (Pictured Front cover, no caption)Growing up in post-Independence Zimbabwe, Ellie yearns for a life beyond the confines of small town Bulawayo, a wish that eventually comes true when she moves to the United Kingdom. However, as with many Zimbabweans, life there is not all she dreamed it to be, but it is the murder of her grandmother that eventually brings her back home and forces her to face some hard home truths through the unravelling of long-concealed family secrets.
Praise for the book has been voiced by two of Zimbabwes award-winning writers. Christopher Mlalazi describes it as: A beautifully executed story about Ellies painful journey of discovery through her family history. The writing in This September Sun, poetic at times, fires a clear warning shot across the bows of world literature to announce that Bryony Rheam has arrived to claim her rightful place.
John Eppel commented that: This September Sun brilliantly evokes the ennui of the pre-Independence settler community who measure out their lives in cups of tea, sundowners, and illicit affairs. In this absorbing debut novel, Bryony Rheam has produced a work worthy of a place in the bibliography of post-colonial writings in Africa.
British writer Caroline Gilfillan also speaks highly of the work, Bryony Rheam offers us a rich portrait of a family and a society in the grip of inexorable change, through the eyes of the sensitive, spirited Ellie. Elegantly written, funny and poignant, this is a wonderful first novel from a writer of great promise. A true original.
Bryony Rheam was born in Kadoma in 1974 and lived in Bulawayo from the age of eight until she left school. She studied for a BA and an MA in English Literature in the United Kingdom and then taught in Singapore for a year before returning to teach in Zimbabwe in 2001. She was part of the British Council sponsored Crossing Borders creative writing project and has had short stories published in several anthologies, including all three volumes in the Short Writings from Bulawayo series and in Long Time Coming: Short Writings from Zimbabwe. Bryony won the Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo Short Story Competition in 2006.
Brian Jones, one of the directors of amaBooks, presented a copy of This September Sun to Chipo Muvezwa, Programmes Officer of the Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust, during the presentation ceremony for the first graduates of the British Council and Culture Fund supported Creative Enterprise: Core Programme at the Holiday Inn, Bulawayo, on Friday 9 October.
He described the book as an impressive first novel by an accomplished writer that contains both romance and mystery.
This September Sun is available at outlets in Bulawayo and Harare, including the National Gallery shops, Induna Arts, Indaba Caf, Avondale Bookshop and the Book Caf.
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