AustLit
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Venture into the dark heart of modern-day Africa in this gripping novel of discovery and redemption.
'Zimbabwean-born, Perth-based Frank Cole is faced with an unusual request in his mother's will. He must journey back to his country of birth to deliver a substantial inheritance from his mother to a former family servant, Lettah Ndlovu. Set in Zimbabwe in the year prior to the 2008 elections, Lettah's Gift is a very personal journey set against a political canvas. The novel draws an incisive portrait of modern Zimbabwe; its social and political issues; its recent history and its conflicts between different tribal groups, as well as white Africans who have emigrated versus those who have stayed behind.
'The story is populated with a cast of rich and interesting characters; old Rhodesians who have struggled to let go of their glorious colonial past, corrupt African officials, and stoic liberals who still hope for better times after Robert Mugabe. Lettah's Gift is an absorbing novel that offers action, romance, danger and humour against an exotic and often confronting African setting.' (From the publisher's website.)
'Zimbabwean-born, Perth-based Frank Cole is faced with an unusual request in his mother's will. He must journey back to his country of birth to deliver a substantial inheritance from his mother to a former family servant, Lettah Ndlovu. Set in Zimbabwe in the year prior to the 2008 elections, Lettah's Gift is a very personal journey set against a political canvas. The novel draws an incisive portrait of modern Zimbabwe; its social and political issues; its recent history and its conflicts between different tribal groups, as well as white Africans who have emigrated versus those who have stayed behind.
'The story is populated with a cast of rich and interesting characters; old Rhodesians who have struggled to let go of their glorious colonial past, corrupt African officials, and stoic liberals who still hope for better times after Robert Mugabe. Lettah's Gift is an absorbing novel that offers action, romance, danger and humour against an exotic and often confronting African setting.' (From the publisher's website.)
Notes
-
Dedication: For Allen, Nabeel and Shaynne
-
Epigraph:
My world nothing but this. Wrapped in a blanket on her back, my head pressed against her soft breathing bulk. Her slow, rolling gait. Her soulful voice. Songs sweet and lilting. Strange clicks of her tongue as she sings of a tree called uxhakhuxhaku. The way she sings its name is the way it sounds to eat its fruit. Feeling her move, taking me with her. Nothing but this. Nothing but this and her voice to fill the world.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
A Lapsed Life Reclaimed
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 22 October 2011; (p. 24)
— Review of Lettah's Gift 2011 single work novel -
Fiction
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 15 - 16 October 2011; (p. 22)
— Review of Lettah's Gift 2011 single work novel -
Untitled
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , August vol. 91 no. 2 2011; (p. 29)
— Review of Lettah's Gift 2011 single work novel -
Fiction
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 3 September 2011; (p. 28)
— Review of Lettah's Gift 2011 single work novel
-
Fiction
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 3 September 2011; (p. 28)
— Review of Lettah's Gift 2011 single work novel -
Untitled
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , August vol. 91 no. 2 2011; (p. 29)
— Review of Lettah's Gift 2011 single work novel -
Fiction
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 15 - 16 October 2011; (p. 22)
— Review of Lettah's Gift 2011 single work novel -
A Lapsed Life Reclaimed
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 22 October 2011; (p. 24)
— Review of Lettah's Gift 2011 single work novel
Last amended 6 Apr 2021 10:12:33
Settings:
-
cZimbabwe,cSouthern Africa, Africa,
- 2007
Export this record