The Uncertainty of Hope by Valerie Tagwira

The title is set in the densely populated suburb of Mbare, Harare, and explores the complex lives of Onai Moyo – a market woman and mother of three children – and her best friend, Katy Nguni – a vendor and black-market currency dealer. The novel gives an insight into the challenges faced by a wide cross section of Zimbabwe, where life expectancy has dropped to 37, possibly the lowest in the world. The stories of these two close friends are situated in a high-density suburb. However, the author, Valerie Tagwira also introduces to a much wider cross-section of Zimbabwean society: Tom Sibanda, a young business man and farmer, his girlfriend, Faith, a university student, Tom’s sister Emily, a health professional, and Mawaya, the ostensible beggar. With depth and sensitivity, Tagwira pulls these many threads into a densely woven novel that provides us with of some of the many faces of contemporary Zimbabwe.