October: A Novel by Zoë Wicomb | South African Diaspora & Homecoming Fiction

October follows Mercia Murray, a South African-born academic who returns from her long-term home in Glasgow to her ancestral village of Kliprand in Namaqualand, after being abandoned by her partner in Scotland. Upon arrival, she discovers her brother and his family grappling with addiction, domestic stress, and buried family secretseven as she confronts her own fractured identity in the country she once left behind.
Written with emotional depth and literary subtlety, Wicombs novel explores themes of exile, midlife crisis, identity, and reconciling two worlds while questioning what home truly means. 

Key Topics Covered:

• Return migration and the immigrants search for identity

• Apartheid-era legacy and its lingering family trauma

• Midlife upheaval, romantic loss, and emotional reintegration

• The role of small-town Namaqualand in shaping personal history

• Dual perspectives highlighting memory, responsibility, and belonging 

October Zoe Wicomb, South African diaspora fiction, Namaqualand novel, homecoming story, midlife journey, return to Kliprand, post-apartheid family drama, female protagonist, immigrant memoir fiction, literary fiction South Africa