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When
seven-year-old Jedza witnesses a tragic incident involving a train and the
death of his close boyhood friend in his hometown Miner’s Drift, he is
convinced that his life is haunted. Now in his mid-20s, Jedza is a down-and-out
electrician, moving to Harare in the hopes that he will escape the darkness and
superstitions of the small town. But living in the shadowy restless atmosphere
of the Avenues with its mysterious pools of water rising under musasa trees, he
is tormented by the disappearance of his sister and their early encounters with
ancestral spirits, the shapeshifting power of the njuzu and a vengeful ngozi. To
move forward, he must stop running away and confront the trauma of his past.
An eclectic, experimental
novel,
Avenues By Train is a brash and confident debut by an exciting new voice
About the author
Farai Mudzingwa is a freelance writer. His short fiction has been published by
Weaver Press,
Kwani? and
Enkare Review II and his longform articles and reporting have been featured in
Chimurenga Chronic,
The Mail & Guardian,
The Johannesburg Review of Books,
Africa Is A Country,
This Is Africa, The Africa Report and
New Humanitarian. Farai was shortlisted for the
Miles Morland Writing Scholarship (2019), the
Short Story Day Africa competition (2019) and the
Yvonne Vera competition (2013). He was longlisted for the
Writivism competition in 2016. He lives in Harare.
Summary
When
seven-year-old Jedza witnesses a tragic incident involving a train and the
death of his close boyhood friend in his hometown Miner’s Drift, he is
convinced that his life is haunted. Now in his mid-20s, Jedza is a down-and-out
electrician, moving to Harare in the hopes that he will escape the darkness and
superstitions of the small town. But living in the shadowy restless atmosphere
of the Avenues with its mysterious pools of water rising under musasa trees, he
is tormented by the disappearance of his sister and their early encounters with
ancestral spirits, the shapeshifting power of the njuzu and a vengeful ngozi. To
move forward, he must stop running away and confront the trauma of his past.
An eclectic, experimental
novel, Avenues By Train is a brash and confident debut by an exciting new voice
