The Hairdresser of Harare

Tendai Huchu

 

Synopsis

In this delicious and devastating first novel, which The Guardian named one of its ten best contemporary African books, Caine Prize finalist Tendai Huchu portrays the heart of contemporary Zimbabwean society with humor and grace. The novel is an acute portrayal of a rapidly changing Zimbabwe. In addition to Vimbai and Dumisani’s personal development, the book shows us how social concerns shape the lives of everyday people.

Review

Huchu brings Harare’s public and private spaces to vivid life. These people and places are distinguished by aspiration and failure, international engagement and small-town provincialism, wealth and poverty, family ties and bitter mistrust—and, always, the specter of violence and a tenuous peace. —Minneapolis Star Tribune

Author

Tendai Huchu is a Zimbabwean novelist based in Scotland. His work has been translated into German, French, Spanish, and Italian. He was shortlisted for the 2014 Caine Prize.