House of Stone

In the chronic turmoil of Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, Abednego and Agnes Mlambo’s teenage son, Bukhosi, has gone missing. Erudite, enigmatic Zamani, their lodger, seems to be their last, best hope for finding him. In his eagerness to help, Zamani is almost a part of the family— but almost isn’t nearly enough. Ingratiating himself to Mama Agnes and feeding alcoholic Abednego’s addiction, he is desperate to extract their life stories and make their family history his own. As the Mlambos pray for Bukhosi’s return, Zamani will stop at nothing to make a home for himself—and each of them must confront the past to find a place in the future.

Bursting with wit, seduction, and dark humor, Novuyo Rosa Tshuma’s unflinching epic about the fall of Rhodesia and the turbulent birth of Zimbabwe celebrates the persistence of the oppressed in a nation seeking its identity amid political chaos and violence. “The result is absolutely thrilling” (Garth Greenwell).