Mother to Mother - Sindiwe Magona

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In August 1993, Fulbright scholar Amy Biehl was killed by a group of black youths. "Mother to Mother" was provoked by that tragedy.;The killer's mother addresses the mother of the victim and tries to gain an understanding of her son by recalling both his life and hers within a world of apartheid. Magona, who grew up in a township of Cape Town, now lives in New York and works for the UN.

…Sindiwe Magona’s consummate storytelling has painted a moving, complex and wholly convincing portrait of a mother desperately trying to come to terms with the fact that her son killed somebody else’s child.

…The author’s ability to capture spoken language is finely tuned and one can actually hear the expression and cadence in her character’s voice. It is a skill that renders the book intensely personal, and engenders sympathy and understanding for Mandisa without resorting to defensive political rhetoric.

This is a compassionate and powerful interpretation of a very real and emotionally charged incident. And, despite the fact that one already knows how it will end, Magona’s skill is such that the novel becomes a compelling page–turner. Like other great heart–rending tragedies, it stirs a desperate hope that this time, just this once, the ending could be different. -  Discover Africa, October/November 1998, Sarah Borchert

About the author (1998)