Petina Gappah powerfully probes the tricksy nature of memory through the story of Memory, or Mnemosyne, an albino woman consigned to Chikurubi prison in Harare, Zimbabwe, convicted of murdering a wealthy white man, Lloyd, her adopted father. She is the first woman in more than 20 years to be sentenced to death. As part of her appeal, she begins writing down her memories of what happened; her notebooks form the novel. Gappah, who won the Guardian first book award in 2009, is also a lawyer, her knowledge brought to bear in this story about the struggle for justice. –The Guardian
Morrab Library member Pamela Priske’s thoughts-
A more conventional novel in that important information is held back till the final chapters -why is the female narrator held in prison under sentence of death?
Again, superstition affects behaviour. Memory is an albino, regarded with abhorrence because such people can only bring bad luck.
Gives insight into Zimbabwe’s horrifying prisons.