Shamiso captures immigrant experience in musical prose

Zimbabwean writer Brian Chikwava, winner of the 2004 Caine Prize for African writing in English, delivers a slim yet compelling novel that follows the journey of Shamiso, a young girl from rural Zimbabwe, to the streets of Brighton, England.

- Dave Chua

SHAMISO By Brian Chikwava Fiction/Paperback/Canongate Books/170 pages/ $26.26 ★★★★☆

The narrative begins in rural Zimbabwe, where Shamiso's family recognises and nurtures her artistic talents, eventually encouraging her move to Harare, the capital.

Studying art instead of medicine, to her father's disappointment, Shamiso travels to the United Kingdom on a scholarship and resides with Zimbabwean immigrant Gabriel and his wife, Nishta, in Brighton. There, she meets Gabriel's godson George, "a twig of boy" who is full of mischief and who also has a female identity as Georgie.

The introduction of George/Georgie, an enigmatic character navigating gender identity, adds complexity to Shamiso's journey of self-discovery. However, this potentially compelling character feels surprisingly underdeveloped, representing one of the novel's missed opportunities.

Shamiso and George have a fiery, on-and-off relationship that underpins the second half of the novel.