'‘This child is no longer wanted…’ Amelia's Inheritance

Amelia’s Inheritance
by Sarudzai Mubvakure and Edited by David Mungoshi

On the day she is born, Alana Pennyfarthing is left at the doorstep of an orphanage in Rhodesia, with a written note:

‘This child is no longer wanted…’

It takes the love of a servant girl, Sisi, who is employed at the orphanage, to erase the rejection and raise Alana. She marries a German immigrant, Wilhelm Gruber, who amasses wealth in the Rhodesian coal mines. Years later Alana re-employs Sisi to raise her three daughters and life could not be better. However, unforeseen tragedy hits the Gruber family. Their youngest daughter dies and Wilhelm loses his wealth. Their second daughter elopes and an unsolicited letter from creditors see’s Wilhelm breathe his last. Grief stricken, Alana loses her mind, leaving her eldest daughter Amelia, an underachieving recluse, to fend for herself. Without an inheritance Amelia realises she has to secure employment for survival and to support Sisi, the closest to family she has left. She struggles. However, providence see’s her secure employment at the household of the wealthy landowner Maxwell Stern. With her new job, Amelia has the chance to prove that she is not a failure. However, she has no idea that the shocking details of her families past lie within the walls of the Stern mansion. What she discovers may be too hard to bear....


Sarudzai Mubvakure represents a new crop of Zimbabwean writers, a talent that we can not ignore for much longer. Like Masimba Musodza, and Chris Mlalazi, these new authors are full of talent and their stories linger with you after you read them. You dream the stories, eat with the stories and ask yourself so many questions. However, the only unfortunate thing about these authors is that they are published by a Small Publisher and may not get the attention they deserve.

Amelia's Inheritance

I have just finished reading and working on Sarudzai Mubvakure's forthcoming book, Amelia's Inheritance. Boy, it is the best book that I have ever read in many years,especially from a Zimbabwean writer.I am a very well-read person in terms of contemporary literature. I spend a sizable part of my budget on buying books and I have a big library in my house. So I know what I am talking about when it comes to good African books! I have read many books that are great, but this one is unique.

The book is written in the first-person-narrative technique, with Amelia, our main character who is born in a wealth white family, narrating her experiences of growing up in Rhodesia. Her father, a German, former NAZI, migrates to Rhodesia after the second world war where he marries a coloured girl (or half-cast) girl who grew up in a Roman Catholic orphanage because in those days mixed race children were often given away for adoption or to orphanages because the government did not approve mixed race relationships. Amelia therefore grows up in a posh,whites only suburb, protected by a government that is geared to serving the interests of Europeans only.

Peter is a young African Lawyer who lives in a poverty stricken African township, Dhorobeni Township. He is fighting a long, protracted court case to protect the villagers of a rich fertile 'tribal trust land' in Manicaland area that has just been identified for forcible acquisition by some white tycoons empowered by the Rhodesian government. (I suppose the author is referring to the injustices of the Land Apportionment Act and the Land Husbandry Act).

Peter and Amelia therefore are both Rhodesian kids living in Rhodesia, are almost of the same age, but with very different opportunities in life. For Africans, the opportunities are marginalised. For white kids, the opportunities are unlimited! I will not give away too much information, but Sarudzai's book tries to reconstruct life in Rhodesia or Zimbabwe a few decades ago. She brings us back to Gatooma, Fort Victoria, Salisbury, Que Que, Umtali and you name it, some of the things that we were almost forgetting, including some Rhodesian law!

After I read Sarudzai's A Disappointing Truth, which takes the reader from Rhodesia to New York and Scotland, I was dumbfounded by her artistic skills in writing vividly about three parts of the world in such a clear and concise manner, describing the streets, scenic and food and supposed characteristics of her characters from the three continents. This one (Amelia's Inheritance) takes us all back to the 60s and 70s Rhodesia, and ends in a new Zimbabwe with a new Prime Minister. Guess who is the Prime Minister? It is not a book about politics or history. It is a work of fiction that takes us back to our past.

Amelia's Inheritance will be published on 30 November, and it is one of the Lion Press books that I feel should be made a set book in Zimbabwean literature. It is also a book that I will take leave from my studies and UK life to promote in Southern Africa. It is a book that we all need to read. I am sending a draft copy to the Minister of Education for approval. It is an honour and a privilege for me to be publishing this book.

As for what Amelia inherits from her father or government, it's all up to you to find out.

Well done Sarudzai. You gave me a food for some thoughts.

Important changes at the Lion Press.

The Fading Sun has now been published, and copies are now available to order through Amazon and other online bookshops. I am waiting to receive the first copy tomorrow. Well done David. I am sorry I did not meet our agreed deadline of 30 September 2009, but I eventually got there with the help of Emmanuel Sigauke. Thank you Emmanuel.

A new version of Ignatius Mabasa's The Man, Shaggy Leopard and the Jackal and other stories has been published. The new version has a new ISBN number and replaces the older version. It has a different size and dimensions. It's a 7" by 10" size and it has 88 pages. Some of the stories have been modified.

A revised version of African Folktales for Children has also been published, and it's also a different size (A5) and the new version has a different ISBN.

Reverend Moses Owusu Sekyere's book, Redemption story, has also been published. Reverend Moses is one of the prominent pastors in London, with big a following internationally.

Albert Nyathi and myself have had a very successful tour of some UK universities as part of pre-publication publicity of his book that will be published early next year. The University of Warwick has agreed to launch the book in April next year, and the launch will be followed by a series of launches throughout the UK.

The Lion Press has been asked to submit five of our best books for inclusion in an anthology of best books to come from Southern Africa since 2001 by a major university. I will not divulge any more details at this time.

The Endless Trail, a revised edition, was also published last month and is now available for order online. Thanks Jonathan Masere for doing the magic job with proofreading. The book really needed a face lift.

And lastly, Lion Press has grown bigger in terms of personnel. We are in the process of registering Lion Press Zimbabwe Ltd as a company in Zimbabwe. All the ground work has been done and our Lawyer is finalising the registration. I will post the information regarding our office once everything is sorted out. Lion Press Zimbabwe has two directors and an Administrator (who is also an Accountant with a Bachelor of Accountancy degree). Lion Press UK has another new director. So we now have four directors and an accountant for both Lion Press Zimbabwe and Lion Press UK. Because Lion Press is no longer run and managed by myself alone, there will be a lot of changes in the way we receive and select manuscripts. Before any manuscript is accepted, there will be collaboration between Zimbabwe and the UK offices. However, this change does not affect the manuscripts that I had accepted and agreed to publish before this new arrangement.

I am enjoying Sarudzai Mubvakure's book, Amelia's Inheritance. Boy, you will love it!

Winners of the Lion Press/Artsiniates short story competition

Congratulations to the following people. These are the results of the short story competition that we launched in May. The stories were judged by Wonder Guchu, Tinashe Mushakavanhu, Memory Chirere, Chris Mlalazi and Joyce Jenje-Makwenda.



1. Call Centre - Emmanuel Sigauke
2. The Visa - Thamsanqa Ncube
3. An Ordinary Saturday Morning - Mzana Mthimukulu
4. Enamoured Paramour by Eleanor Madziva
5. Care-worker - Memory Dete

6. Naked Truth - Tinashe Muchuri
7. Blood Rain - Richmore Tera
8. Life is like that - Getrude Thandazani Mlambo
9. A new Start - Morden Mapani
10. Full Circle - George Phillip

May the above people email me privately to elaborate on how their prizes can be dispatched to them? Also an anthology with all the above ten stories will be published soon.Wonder Guchu and myself will start working on publishing them soon.

Thank you, and congratulations again.

Hi All

Greetings to you all. I am still there. I was on a month-long leave from books and publishing. However, having said this, I shall be posting less and less on my blog. This is part of a new Lion Press strategy.

Intwasa Festival kicked off today in Bulawayo.Many Rivers, Divorce Token and The Man, Shaggy Leopard, Jackal and other stories will all be launched during the festival.

Winners of the Arts Initiate/Lion Press short story competition will also be announced at the festival.

Good luck Joyce, Chris and Ignatius.