Paulina Chiziane: Niketche: Uma História de Poligamia (Niketche : A Story of Polygamy; later: Fìrst Wife)

The latest addition to my website is Paulina Chiziane‘s Niketche: Uma História de Poligamia (Niketche : A Story of Polygamy; later: Fìrst Wife) . The key theme of this novel is polygamy, apparently still practised in Mozambique. Our heroine is Rami. She is married to Tony, a senior police officer and they have five children. Lately, however, Tony’s appearances have been increasingly rare. Rami has found out that he has another lover, Julieta. She marches round to Julieta’s house (paid for by Tony) and they start a fist fight which the younger Julieta wins. However they make up and Rami finds Tony is not coming much to visit Julieta (pregnant with their seventh child) as there is another woman, Luisa. And she is by no means the last in the chain. The women band together and confront Tony but Tony is not easily going to let go of what he considers his God-given right. However the women, inspired by Rami, are seeking their independence.But then Tony disappears and a body is found and Rani is kutchingaed. This is an interesting insight into a culture most of us will not be familiar with as well as a well-told tale.