EDMORE Gwanzura has published his new offering titled Matimbe, centering on a boy who was raised in a polygamous family set-up.
The book was launched last month and it seeks to bring out such social issues as complex polygamous marriages, identity crisis and romantic relationships in families.
Gwanzura launched his career on Facebook, where he gained popularity by promoting and disseminating his literary works.
He said when he decided to compose short stories and share them on Facebook and WhatsApp last year, his career took off.
The author published two books this year Matimbe and Bungumuridzo Mumusha, thanks to the positive response to his work on social media.
His latest book Matimbe was published by Aleck Maphosa, the director of Essential Books Association in Zimbabwe.
It is written in Shona and portrays the misfortunes of a young vibrant boy called Matimbe who was raised in a polygamous family.
Although polygamy decreased at the advent of Christianity on the African continent, the majority of elderly people in Zimbabwe were raised in polygamous families characterised by complex competition and jealousy.
- ZRC wraps up stakeholder consultations
- Letter from America: Ariel Primary: A school that teaches pupils to be angels
- Grace tidings: Faith of God: The access code to victorious living
- Grace tidings: Right and wrong thinking
Keep Reading
Polygamy is a marriage in which a man has several spouses and in many African countries, this was and is still common practice, especially in royal families.
Hence in the book, Gwanzura takes the readers on a journey to a kings homestead, Mambo Musariri, who had two wives.
The novel explores the issue of identity crisis which is currently a heated topic in Zimbabwe trending on a reality show called The Closure DNA Show.
The show seeks to verify the identity of children through DNA testing upon request by either parent. The majority of the results reveal that the assumed father has zero paternity relationship with the child.
Matimbe grew up unaware of the relationship between him and Mambo Musariri.
Matimbe only found out when he was 18 years that Mambo Musariri was not his biological father.
While fighting to come to terms with this identity crisis, more misfortunes befall the young man as he becomes hated and despised by his three cousins and their mother, Mambo’s first wife and her children.
In addition, the book explores difficulties caused by romantic relationships among families in societies.
The globalisation and modernisation of the world have caused many aspects of life to change, but Gwanzura excellently illustrates that some aspects of life will never change and have always existed, one of which is romantic relationships in families.
The ancient world backdrop of Matimbe perfectly captures the intricacy of romantic relationships.
This is a common theme in the modern world as well, particularly in Zimbabwe where the high prevalence of suicide has been linked to romantic relationships.
In the novel, one of the main reasons Matimbe was despised by his cousins was his relationship with a girl called Ruviro.
The animosity between him and his cousins was due to the fact that Mambo Musariri’s second son, Tozivei, wanted to snatch the girl from Matimbe.
Tozivei’s two brothers and Musariri’s first wife, took Tozivei’s side and made sure that Matimbe would not enjoy his stay at Musariri’s homestead.
As the narrative progresses, Matimbe is compelled by events to relocate to Musariri’s second wife’s home, where he is welcomed.
Even though things were better over there, the rivalry between the king’s two wives became worse, which led to Tozivei and the kings’ second wife, VaSarudzayi, passing away.
Gwanzura inserted a light at the end of the tunnel in Matimbe’s life to lift the readers’ spirits.
After Tozivei and VaSuradzayi died, the king attempted to execute Matimbe, but one of his guards alerted the boy and he fled.
Matimbe escaped and made it to the home of his deceased biological father, where he later settled down and lived happily.
The writer gives the book, which has 52 chapters, a happy ending to motivate his readers and give them hope for their own life situations.
