This Mournable Body

This Mournable Body is actually the third in a trilogy of novels, after Nervous Conditions which I read over two years ago and The Book Of Not which I haven't read. Fortunately, while having read the previous two books recently enough to remember them would probably be an advantage in gaining a deeper understanding of Tambudzai's life story and present predicament, I didn't actually ever feel as though I were missing out by not having this information easily accessible.

I would disagree with the synopsis in that Tambudzai is no longer a 'young girl' but very much a woman and a woman whose bitter disappointment at her life and future prospects is so overwhelming as to be damaging her mental health. In her blind determination to achieve a certain level of material success, she is unable to recognise how much more life has to offer even when examples such as her sister's marital happiness or her mother's village leadership are staring her in the face. For Tambudzai, anything that doesn't revolve around an affluent city businesswoman's situation is simply failure.

For Dangarembga to make me care deeply about the predicament of an essentially selfish and unlikeable character is quite the achievement. I could understand how a combination of wartime psychological trauma and wholeheartedly swallowing the capitalist myths of her education had led Tambudzai to such an impasse that her mind was no longer capable of buoying her up against ghastly reality. This Mournable Body is a sympathetically realistic portrayal of mental collapse which, I thought painted an authentic picture of both the woman at its centre and also of the family she keeps at bay.