Overview

Amid the turmoil of modern Zimbabwe, Abednego and Agnes Mlambo’s teenage son has gone missing. Zamani, their enigmatic lodger, seems to be their only hope for finding him. As he weaves himself closer into the fabric of the grieving community, it's almost like Zamani is part of the family.… Zamani—one of the great unreliable narrators of contemporary world literature—knows that the one who controls the narrative inherits the future. As Abednego wrestles with alcoholism and Agnes seeks solace in a deep-rooted love, each must confront the burdens of history. Written with dark humor, wit, and seduction, House of Stone is a sweeping epic that spans the fall of Rhodesia through Zimbabwe’s turbulent beginnings, exploring the persistence of the oppressed in a nation seeking an identity.

Full Product Details

9780393357684

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Be prepared to laugh, shed tears, and marvel."" -- Yiyun Li - Vanity Fair ""A gripping account of revolution and its aftermath."" -- Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of The Sympathizer ""Ambitious and ingenious."" -- Dinaw Mengestu - New York Times Book Review ""House of Stone is the novel devastated Zimbabwe needed to have written. Now Novuyo Tshuma has written it. Bayethe to her scintillating talent! In the most original and fearless prose I’ve read in years, Tshuma’s scheming narrator, Zamani, reveals the personal and political disintegration that was Zimbabwe’s undoing."" -- Tsitsi Dangarembga, author of Nervous Conditions ""House of Stone is that rare thing, a truly original work of art whose author’s risk-taking pays off on the page. Zamani is a complex, compelling, and ambiguous narrator. Utterly stunning."" -- Tendai Huchu, author of The Maestro, the Magistrate and the Mathematician ""Tshuma’s House of Stone is a devastating and inviting piece of fiction that is earning its raves as a beyond notable first novel.… Her book slips like sand through fingers through time and voice, masterfully condensing the history of Zimbabwe to the point where the back story is informative and provocative but not cumbersome.… Tshuma deftly tells a story of colonization and decolonization both with a wide focus on the nation and the tight focus on a few people. The latter serves as a tragic microcosm of the former.… Her balance between the tightest and broadest focus is admirable and efficient."" -- Andrew Dansby - Houston Chronicle ""To call [House of Stone] clever or ambitious is to do it a disservice—it is both, but also more than that.… Tshuma is incapable of writing a boring sentence.… By the end she has managed to not only sum up Zimbabwean history, but also all of African colonial history: from devastating colonialism to the bitter wars of independence to the euphoria of self-rule and the disillusionment of the present. It is an extraordinary achievement for a first novel."" -- Helon Habila, author of Oil on Water, for the Guardian ""An enthralling novel that has it all: pathos, humour, and an insightful engagement with the history of Zimbabwe. With audacious style, Tshuma manages to step over the pitfalls that would swallow a lesser talent, and in so doing announces herself as a huge talent."" -- Brian Chikwava, author of Harare North ""Novuyo Rosa Tshuma’s epic satire House of Stone (2018) is driven by one Zamani’s almost pathological desire to replace the missing son of the Mlambo family. In Tshuma’s beautiful interweaving of personal and national history, we learn of successive generations burdened by sins of their fathers."" -- Panashe Chigumadzi - Guardian ""Reading House of Stone is like being punched in the stomach and tickled at the same time."" -- Ranka Primorac, author of The Place of Tears

Reading House of Stone is like being punched in the stomach and tickled at the same time. -- Ranka Primorac, author of The Place of Tears Novuyo Rosa Tshuma's epic satire House of Stone (2018) is driven by one Zamani's almost pathological desire to replace the missing son of the Mlambo family. In Tshuma's beautiful interweaving of personal and national history, we learn of successive generations burdened by sins of their fathers. -- Panashe Chigumadzi - Guardian An enthralling novel that has it all: pathos, humour, and an insightful engagement with the history of Zimbabwe. With audacious style, Tshuma manages to step over the pitfalls that would swallow a lesser talent, and in so doing announces herself as a huge talent. -- Brian Chikwava, author of Harare North To call [House of Stone] clever or ambitious is to do it a disservice-it is both, but also more than that.... Tshuma is incapable of writing a boring sentence.... By the end she has managed to not only sum up Zimbabwean history, but also all of African colonial history: from devastating colonialism to the bitter wars of independence to the euphoria of self-rule and the disillusionment of the present. It is an extraordinary achievement for a first novel. -- Helon Habila, author of Oil on Water, for the Guardian Tshuma's House of Stone is a devastating and inviting piece of fiction that is earning its raves as a beyond notable first novel.... Her book slips like sand through fingers through time and voice, masterfully condensing the history of Zimbabwe to the point where the back story is informative and provocative but not cumbersome.... Tshuma deftly tells a story of colonization and decolonization both with a wide focus on the nation and the tight focus on a few people. The latter serves as a tragic microcosm of the former.... Her balance between the tightest and broadest focus is admirable and efficient. -- Andrew Dansby - Houston Chronicle House of Stone is that rare thing, a truly original work of art whose author's risk-taking pays off on the page. Zamani is a complex, compelling, and ambiguous narrator. Utterly stunning. -- Tendai Huchu, author of The Maestro, the Magistrate and the Mathematician House of Stone is the novel devastated Zimbabwe needed to have written. Now Novuyo Tshuma has written it. Bayethe to her scintillating talent! In the most original and fearless prose I've read in years, Tshuma's scheming narrator, Zamani, reveals the personal and political disintegration that was Zimbabwe's undoing. -- Tsitsi Dangarembga, author of Nervous Conditions Ambitious and ingenious. -- Dinaw Mengestu - New York Times Book Review A gripping account of revolution and its aftermath. -- Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of The Sympathizer Be prepared to laugh, shed tears, and marvel. -- Yiyun Li - Vanity Fair

Be prepared to laugh, shed tears, and marvel. -- Yiyun Li - Vanity Fair A gripping account of revolution and its aftermath. -- Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of The Sympathizer Ambitious and ingenious. -- Dinaw Mengestu - New York Times Book Review House of Stone is the novel devastated Zimbabwe needed to have written. Now Novuyo Tshuma has written it. Bayethe to her scintillating talent! In the most original and fearless prose I've read in years, Tshuma's scheming narrator, Zamani, reveals the personal and political disintegration that was Zimbabwe's undoing. -- Tsitsi Dangarembga, author of Nervous Conditions House of Stone is that rare thing, a truly original work of art whose author's risk-taking pays off on the page. Zamani is a complex, compelling, and ambiguous narrator. Utterly stunning. -- Tendai Huchu, author of The Maestro, the Magistrate and the Mathematician Tshuma's House of Stone is a devastating and inviting piece of fiction that is earning its raves as a beyond notable first novel.... Her book slips like sand through fingers through time and voice, masterfully condensing the history of Zimbabwe to the point where the back story is informative and provocative but not cumbersome.... Tshuma deftly tells a story of colonization and decolonization both with a wide focus on the nation and the tight focus on a few people. The latter serves as a tragic microcosm of the former.... Her balance between the tightest and broadest focus is admirable and efficient. -- Andrew Dansby - Houston Chronicle To call [House of Stone] clever or ambitious is to do it a disservice-it is both, but also more than that.... Tshuma is incapable of writing a boring sentence.... By the end she has managed to not only sum up Zimbabwean history, but also all of African colonial history: from devastating colonialism to the bitter wars of independence to the euphoria of self-rule and the disillusionment of the present. It is an extraordinary achievement for a first novel. -- Helon Habila, author of Oil on Water, for the Guardian An enthralling novel that has it all: pathos, humour, and an insightful engagement with the history of Zimbabwe. With audacious style, Tshuma manages to step over the pitfalls that would swallow a lesser talent, and in so doing announces herself as a huge talent. -- Brian Chikwava, author of Harare North Novuyo Rosa Tshuma's epic satire House of Stone (2018) is driven by one Zamani's almost pathological desire to replace the missing son of the Mlambo family. In Tshuma's beautiful interweaving of personal and national history, we learn of successive generations burdened by sins of their fathers. -- Panashe Chigumadzi - Guardian Reading House of Stone is like being punched in the stomach and tickled at the same time. -- Ranka Primorac, author of The Place of Tears

Author Information

Novuyo Rosa Tshuma is the author of the novel House of Stone, the winner of the 2019 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award and the 2019 Bulawayo Arts Award for Outstanding Fiction. Her work has been shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, the Dylan Thomas Prize, and the Balcones Fiction Prize. A native of Zimbabwe, she has lived in South Africa and the United States and has taught fiction workshops globally.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available