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WELCOME TO THE WOMAN ZONE BOOK REVIEW PAGE.                   
​This is where members of the WZ Book Club get to share their thoughts on titles seen on the shelves of our Women’s Library. All reviews are unsolicited and only those attending the WZBC may borrow and review books.
The Woman Zone Book Club meets on the 2nd Saturday of every month between 2pm and 4pm at The Women’s Library, ground floor, Artscape.  All are welcome.
​
We welcome your reviews of women-authored books. Send between 200-500 words and cover pic if possible to info@womanzonect.co.za or hipzone@mweb and we will post it here! 

The Dictionary of Lost Words

6/28/2021

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Author: Pip Williams
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Reviewer: Nancy Richards
​Having just read the rough, raw, from-the-gut ‘Shuggie Bain’, by complete contrast I found ‘The Dictionary of Lost Words’ diligently researched, educated (not that Shuggie wasn’t, just differently) tender and smooth-as-a-silk-stocking. Feels like it’s been much discussed – unsurprisingly, such an appealing title and pretty cover – so stop if you’ve heard it all before.  But in case you haven’t, it may be a good idea to read the Author’s Note and Timelines at the back which explain 
Australia-based writer-researcher Pip Williams’s thinking. And researching. Did I mention diligent? It took me a while (I think I disappointed a friend by suggesting it was perhaps a bit sweet. Sweet but compelling. Like Downton Abbey) and it felt a bit repetitive, but once I got into her rhythm (‘the measured flow of words and phrases in verse or prose as determined by the relation of long and short or stressed and unstressed syllables‘) I got carried along by the story. The stories in fact, because the book delivers not just the word-by-word, and faithful to history, creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, but there are also peeps into Emmaline Pankhurst’s Suffragettism, the awfulness and wastefulness of war, WWI to be exact, as well as a segue into Aus.
​Her techniques include the use of letters to sort of cover the bits that needed to be explained and expanded, and she has a way of not so much addressing an actual event, as leaving you at the gate then opening the next chapter inside the house. Does that make sense? Hopefully it will when you read it. A bonus was ‘walking or cycling’ the streets of Oxford – perhaps when lockdown allows, someone might do a Dictionary of Lost Words Walking Tour of the university city. But the element that appealed most, for me, was the thread of ‘women’s words’ (no spoilers) that were generally omitted from the original OED for coming from the mouths of the uneducated. One word in particular (I won’t mention which, but begins with C) heroine Esme defends like a lioness to a donkey of a patriarchal and stubborn academic, as having been used by Chaucer himself! Can’t argue with that piece of research. 
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When the Village Sleeps

6/22/2021

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Author: Sindiwe Magona 
Publisher: Picador Africa 
Reviewer: Hazel Makuzeni 
The novel tells the story of four generations of women. Khulu (the matriarch), like glue binding her two daughters; Phyllis (the eldest) and Lily and, also her granddaughter Busisiwe.  
Their lives play out in Kwanele, an informal settlement in the township of Khayelitsha, just outside the City of Cape Town. And Sidwadweni: the home village of Khulu in the Eastern Cape. Like most townships in South Africa, Kwanele is rife with despair, poor service delivery, crime, unemployment and poverty. When the village sleeps follows Busisiwe, abandoned at an early age by an absent father and having an uncaring and reckless mother in Phyllis (a.k.a Missing at Night as a result of her habit of getting lost at night, unable to find her way home after a 
spree of alcohol consuming). Busisiwe’s life's an uphill battle in Kwanele. Her mother has no place of her own. She, Phyllis plus two younger brothers live in Aunt Lily’s backyard. 
Busisiwe struggles for everything; for money, clothes, good sound advice, love and acceptance. More so as she attends an elegant Model C school in town (paid for by Khulu’s former employer, Mrs Bird) while living in poverty stricken Kwanele. A series of events leads the teen to make dire decisions. 
Once I started reading the novel, I couldn’t put it down. It doesn’t feel or read like a 
fictional story. At its core; it’s really based on reality, our country’s reality. The 
characters are the many faces you'll find in Khayelitsha where I grew up and still 
live. MaSindiwe Magona is truly a living legend that we should immensely treasure. 
She gives a true account of township and rural life. She’s not afraid to tread on 
taboo topics facing our nation - such as: government corruption, teen pregnancy, the 
child grant; foetal alcohol syndrome and the brutal killings of old women in rural 
areas. 
Even though the book is heartbreaking at times; Khulu (the anchor of the family) is 
the voice of reason bridging the gap between the old and new ways of living, offering wisdom, healing, hope and utmost respect for Mother Nature.
The novel is interwoven with the spiritual world - the world of the ancestors. They 
speak throughout the book in poetry; offering guidance and predictions. 
PS Mandlakazi, Busisiwe’s courageous daughter, is one character in the book that 
will stay in my heart for a long time. She’s truly a blessing in disguise. 
DR Sindiwe Magona is an author, storyteller, motivational speaker, poet, playwright 
and actor. 
ENDS

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The Black Girl's Guide ...

6/14/2021

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Author: Lindelwa Skenjana
Publisher: NB Publishers
Reviewer: Hazel Makuzeni
'My wish is to witness, in the near future, young African female professionals being unapologetically themselves at work, and fully expressing who they were born to be, regardless of the organisational space in which they find themselves.’
In this book, an empowerment tool for young African female professionals, Lindelwa Skenjana shares her experiences of corporate South Africa as a young, black, professional.
This is a candid reflection on Lindelwa’s own 
journey and those of other young, black females who are featured in the book as they navigate the workplace environment in this country. An environment that, on so many levels, unfortunately still thrives on exclusivity. The book examines racism, sexism, ageism, male privilege, office politics, bullying, sexual relations between junior and senior stuff, unequal pay between females and their male counterparts - issues that mostly affect young, black females in the corporate world.
The author asks: Can corporate culture become inclusive and truly embody diversity?  She offers great insights to this question and many others.
The book is easy to read as it doesn’t use time consuming jargon. It’s broken down in different chapters that tell real women’s stories.  It’s really a gift for women on the move - women who have just entered their careers or that are climbing the career ladder.
‘We have so much undoing, unlearning and self-loving to do as black women.’ Says Lindelwa, ‘Throughout our lives we have been told one thing or the other is wrong and we would need to change it to fit in.’
If you find yourself in a toxic work environment, this book is for you. It gives strategies to not only assist you survive corporate South Africa, but to flourish in it. It’s a book that will arm young black, professional women with enough information to better navigate the workplace, find their voices and more importantly, their authentic selves. The book is also an excellent read for graduates who are yet to enter the workplace, to not go blindly into the world of work – to know what can be expected. ​
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