"I, the great general of the German soldiers, send this letter to the Hereros... Any Herero found inside the German frontier, with or without a gun or cattle, will be executed. I shall spare neither women nor children. I shall give the order to drive them away and fire on them. Such are my words to the Herero people."
South-West Africa, 1904: When General Lothar von Trotha, military commander of the German colonial forces, issues the extermination order, the Herero people are forced to flee into the desert, seeking safety in British Bechuanaland. Tjipuka, a young Herero mother, escapes the massacre with her baby but is later captured and sent to work in the death camps of Luderitz. There, she must find the courage - and the will - to survive against all odds.
The Transvaal, 1899: Riette's nursing ambitions are crushed when she is forced into marriage with an older neighbour. When he is taken captive and their farm is set ablaze under Britain's scorched-earth policy, she and his daughters must endure the horrors of the British concentration camps during the Second Anglo-Boer War.
Against the backdrop of two of southern Africa's most brutal colonial wars at the dawn of the twentieth century, The Scattering traces the fates of two remarkable women whose paths cross after each has suffered the devastation and dislocation of war.
A haunting and deeply moving historical novel, Kubuitsile weaves an unforgettable tale of loss, resilience and a powerful reminder of history's forgotten atrocities.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
"Kubuitsile has crafted an ambitious, powerful and poignant historical novel that brings to life a very important period" -Tendai Huchu, author of The Hairdresser of Harare
"This book is not for the faint-hearted. It tells the story of genocide, the decimation of a people who never lived to tell their personal stories. It's also a reminder that a love that survives war cannot always withstand a hatred turned inward." Jacqui L'Ange, author of The Seed Thief
"With beautiful writing and breathtaking descriptions, Kubuitsile keeps the story going with a well-timed pace and just enough action to keep one invested, yet slow enough that the reader can digest what is happening with empathy to truly experience these events alongside the characters." Roxane Bayer The Namibian
"...The Scattering is one of those superb historical novels which live on in the reader, simultaneously sounding a warning and shining the light of hope." Karina Magdalena Cape Times
"How violence, suffered and perpetrated, shatters souls and forever damages the love of two lovers: Lauri Kubuitsile depicts the genocide of the Herero in a shockingly intimate way." Charlotte Wiedemann Journalist
Sprache
Verlagsort
Maße
Höhe: 198 mm
Breite: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-8382215-2-2 (9781838221522)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
LAURI KUBUITSILE is an award-winning writer and the author of numerous works of fiction for both children and adults. She has won several prestigious literary awards, including the Golden Baobab Prize for children's writing, an honour she received twice, the Bessie Head Literature Award, and the Botswerere Prize for Creative Writing. She was also a finalist for the 2011 Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story, In the Spirit of McPhineas Lata. Her works are widely published and studied in schools across Botswana and South Africa. She lives in Botswana and writes full time.
