Zimbabwean girl meets gender-fluid Afro-Brit boy. They can't stand each other but fall hopelessly in love, before being traumatised into separate paths by their mutual prejudices
Shamiso is a young girl, thoughtful but uncertain, taken by her family from rural Zimbabwe to bustling Harare. As she grows up there, she watches the world: her distant, stern father, her angry stepmother and her father's strange, loving cousin, the elderly Jimson, who encourages Shamiso to discover her passion for art, her place in their family, and her voice in the world.
When she takes a leap to leave Zimbabwe behind for Brighton, England, Shamiso must find a new family and a new way of living. There she falls in love for the first time with George - whose female identity, Georgie, is everything Shamiso has ever wanted or needed. But can such happiness last, when neither of them knows yet who they truly are?
Quirky, challenging and mischievous, this tender coming-of-age story brilliantly examines selfhood, love and the many shapes family can take. From first moments to final steps, Shamiso is a thought-provoking, blazing work of modern existence and all its contradictions.
Industry Reviews
'Praise for Harare North:An hilarious and wrenching examination of immigrant life . . . From a prodigiously talented and uncompromising writer' - ALI SMITH
'Brian Chikwava's language is lively and witty and it turns the London you know upside down' - MAGGIE GEE
'It's the darkest of comedies, fuelled by an eccentric, wholly convincing voice' - Observer
'A debut novel at once lyrical and gritty, offering an unsentimental view of the African immigrant experience in London's Brixton' - Scotsman
'Mesmerising' - Guardian
'Brilliant. Combines the thrill of propulsive plot with a remarkable eye for dazzling description and imagery' - ANDREW McMILLAN
'Shamiso is a jewel of a novel that dazzles with ideas on migration, grief, love, time, language and meaning, so economically written that repeat reads are not only rewarded but demanded' - MENDEZ, author of RAINBOW MILK
'A spare, propulsive tale that boldly vaults beyond convention. Shamiso is captivating and utterly original' - TOPE FOLARIN
'Chikwava gifts us a compelling story of self-discovery, identity and belonging. He writes with such precision and wit that every sentence lands like a well-aimed arrow - sharp, purposeful and impossible to ignore' - CHIKA UNIGWE
'Shamiso is marvellous. Chikwava dazzles with fresh, inventive prose in this quirky coming-of-age tale about a young woman who straddles multiple identities . . . Outstanding' - TENDAI HUCHU
'Chikwava's fresh and fearless voice is here again: Shamiso sparkles' - DELIA JARRETT-MACAULEY, Winner of the Orwell Prize for Political Writing
'Laden with insight . . . an important and timely book' - NII AYIKWEI PARKES
'Propulsive, frenetic and tonally inventive' - CHINELO OKPARANTA
'A delicious, profound book! Chikwava's prose leaps off the page with stunning depth and beauty. . . It asks us to question attitudes about language, class, migrations, gender and all the things that make us love each other' - OLUMIDE POPOOLA
