The Hairdresser of Harare: A Novel (Modern African Writing Series) Kindle Edition

You can read a dozen nonfiction books about Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe’s kleptocracy and fail to get a more vivid sense of what life is really like there than from this recent novel by Tendai Huchu. In one short work of fiction, Huchu conjures up the sad reality of day-to-day existence in that beleaguered country: the 90 percent unemployment, the ubiquitous corruption, the hyperinflation, the ever-present shortages, the barely functional electricity service, the vicious eviction of white Africans from their farms and businesses, the rabid homophobia. The people of resource-rich Zimbabwe are among the world’s most poverty-stricken, and average life expectancy in their country is thirty-seven, but what does that really mean for the way they live their lives, day after day? The Hairdresser of Harare opens up a window on that steadily unfolding tragedy.Here is Huchu summing up this reality: “I felt an atmosphere of friendliness, violence, innovation, poverty, joy, but the only thing that hung over everything else was despair; an air of hopelessness as if everyone was in a pit that they could not climb out of.”Set in the capital city, Harare, and revolving around the hairdressers who eke out a living from a beauty salon, The Hairdresser is the first-person account of a talented beautician named Sisi Vimbai. As a teenager, Vimbai was impregnated by her Sugar Daddy, a wealthy businessman who quickly grew distant soon after she gave birth to a daughter. Now nearly twenty-six, with a ten-year-old to support, Vimbai is on the verge of desperation when a new threat arises: a handsome young man of twenty-two named Dumi has displaced her as the salon’s most sought-after hairdresser. The novel spins out the tale of Vimbai and Dumi’s growing relationship.Since writing The Hairdresser of Harare, which appeared in 2010, Huchu has published a second novel, The Maestro, the Magistrate, and the Mathematician. A native of Zimbabwe, he now lives in Scotland and is employed as a podiatrist.

Entertaining read with a story that keeps you hooked. A timely topic for the sub-Saharan Africa region, but getting into any detail here might be a spoiler.Unfortunately, I thought the foreshadowing was so obvious and central that it kind of ruined the story. The "thing that surprises you" is hiding behind every plot development, and you feel like you want to shake the narrator awake. "Lady, this is too obvious!" The naivete of the protagonist is also quite unbelievable. A late 20s single mother in Harare who sincerely holds such passionate and zealous religious beliefs yet also can't spot something that she is so furiously trained to spot - particularly in one of the most openly anti-"that thing" societies in the world? Having lived in this region for quite some time, it was just too much to swallow. The story also has a kind of formulaic tragic romance feel to it, which in combination with the awkward plot twists just kind of falls flat. I was left wondering at the end of the book whether I was looking for too much and should have just enjoyed the story - and that's not a good feeling to be left with.

The recent death of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe shines a light on the homophobic policies of his leadership. This book highlights the way these policies affected one man and those around him. It is a good read, though a bit clunkily written, and with all of the books that I read by my African brothers and sisters, I would be enhanced by a translation of the italicized terms. Well worth the read, even if there are parts that could stand a good edit.

I liked the book but it was just a little to anti climatic for me. I was expecting this huge climax and it ended abruptly leaving so many unanswered questions.It was more a fire cracker boom and I was expecting this big fireworks display. Overall decent quick read. The authors introduction of this book is also really funny.

1. First person narrations are not the easiest to do. I think Tendai Huchu would have had better luck bringing out the best of his characters' performances from a different angle.2. There was no real story until 86% of the way into the book!3. Mistakes in character consistency e.g., Vimbai won't let anyone but herself, give her daughter a bath because of the danger of molestation. (About which she goes on at length). "Anyone" includes her maid Maidei. However, she meets the Ncubes' maid, who's of the same social profile as Maidei, and after a brief conversation (from whence we learn of her similarities to Maidei) the maid suggests giving the daughter a bath when she wakes and Vimbai consents without a thought. I thought it strange. If this was deliberate, the author did nothing to guide the reader in seeing the supposed point.

I'm a fan of African fiction writers. There seems to be a new crop emerging lately, and I have read many of their works. The Hairdresser of Harare is pleasing to read, and one wonders if it might be semi- auto biographical, but don't wonder about this too long or hard as it doesn't affect the book. I feel Huchu did a great job writing this novel. Although the plot is predictable, the story is none the less heart wrenching. Even in 2015 people are not free to express and be themselves. There is good character development, and a great immersion into the culture of the city and lively beauty parlor banter. A fast but pleasing and enjoyable read

I couldn't tell if the problem was with the book or with me. The main character, a single mother, is building a life for herself and her child. A person enters her life and I understood almost immediately that things were not what they seemed and why. I couldn't tell if the main character was just so inexperienced and naive to not see it or if there was a bigger point I was missing. (So was the author saying, "Ah, reader, you and I know what is going on but she does not"?)Other than that, however, it was a great opportunity to see what daily life in Zimbabwe is like, including the significant differences in class.

The story is told by Sisi Vimbai, a single mother, who is the leading stylist in a Harare hairdressing saloon until the handsome Dumisane Ncubi turns up who is an even better stylist than she is, and whom the saloon's owner appoints as the saloon's manager. Sisi is mortified; but Vimbai has a spare room. Dumi moves in, and in the course of time, he and she become "an item", and Sisi's little daughter Chiwoniso also becomes very fond of "Uncle Dumi". Dumi's wealthy parents and siblings treat Vimbai as a member of the family, though she is a single mother and from a lower social class than they are. All this is told in a leisurely manner and in pleasant and simple prose in the first two-thirds of the book.The first two sentence of the novel read, "I knew there was something not quite right with Dumi the very first time I ever laid eyes on him, The problem was, I just couldn't tell what it was." It is only in the last third of the book that Sisi discovers what was "not quite right" with him. It devastates her, and her reactions have terrible consequences.This central story is set against the background of life in Zimbabwe under Mugabe: terrible shortages for all except the people at the top; corruption; an inflation which means that "bricks" of banknotes are needed to pay for purchases; the lawless "veterans" who can be used by the powerful to beat up their opponents; the terrible risks run by homosexuals in that society.An easy and in the end a very powerful read.

I had seen The Hairdresser Of Harare positively reviewed on other book blogs so jumped at the chance to purchase my own copy when the ebook was discounted recently on Amazon. It's a fairly light-hearted story - although with violent episodes towards the end - and I thought Huchu portrayed modern day Zimbabwe in a lively and entertaining way. I liked his characters, all of whom felt real although perhaps slightly larger than life, and the potentially bitchy atmosphere of the hair salon was great fun. Vimbai is a deceptively complex woman. Initially I thought her rather vain and shallow, but as I discovered more about her life and her choices I found myself really rooting for her to succeed.Huchu describes Harare in a way that made the city appeal to me, but he doesn't shy away from its negative aspects. I was shocked by the aggressive male behaviour that women endure daily - unwanted and uninvited chat-ups repeatedly being followed with abusive language when refused or ignored. Ingrained cultural attitudes towards homosexuality were also difficult for me to accept. Dumi's 'secret' is telegraphed from fairly early on in the novel so I wasn't surprised by the revelation - certainly not as much as Vimbai is! - and her immediate response was disappointing although I suppose understandable given her lack of relevant knowledge.Having very much enjoyed reading most of The Hairdresser Of Harare, I felt the last quarter was too rushed which did spoil the book a bit for me, but I look forward to reading more Tendai Huchu novels in the future.

This feels like the sort of book that would be destined to be a Richard and Judy Book Club read (if that book club still existed). It's short, has easy flowing prose, and it's easy and unchallenging. It's got just enough culture shock to offer an interesting flavour and put the reader in a new place, but not enough to overwhelm or alienate anyone.The story starts when our narrator, the best hairdresser in a stylist's in Harare unexpectedly gets competition for the crown when a male hairdresser is hired. Male stylists are totally unheard of, and he's much more talented than her, quickly relegating her to lower rank in the pecking order. Their relationship changes from being pure competitors to becoming people who use and rely on each other.All plot developments are heralded well in advance and unsurprising to European / American readers, which helps the book retain a certain sweetness even when bad things happen. There's a major plot point which is fairly obvious from the first page, but still treated like a giant surprise revelation, which makes me think the reader was always supposed to know more than the book's narrator (it's all told through the eyes of the female hairdresser).The story is quite casual about bad things - omnipresent sexual harrassment, deprivation, rape, racism, persecution, sexual abuse of children, thug squads, death squads - there's lots of grimness in these pages, but it's always safe, at arm's length, part of the story's scenery rather than its heart. It makes the story easy to digest while giving it some sense of authenticity.For some light entertainment with an African / Zimbabwean flavour, I'd recommend this book.

The Hairdresser of Harare - Tendai HuchuVimbai has been the head and best hairdresser at Mrs Khumalo's salon in Harare, until Dumi shows up and becomes the darling of the clients.He moves in with Vimbai and takes her home to meet his very wealthy parents who are delighted that he has (finally) found a girlfriend. But Dumi has a dark secret that Vimbai uncovers and through jealously, almost gets him killed.This book is a stark reminder that corruption in Africa is accepted but homosexuality is not. It's about a country whose government has destroyed peoples' lives just for not agreeing with them. A country where inflation literally changed every hour.I think that the author completely catches the atmosphere of Zimbabwe. There have been criticisms on Amazon of on the "lightness" of the story and the author's use of language - I have to disagree and add that if you have lived in Africa, then this book catches the atmosphere totally. It's a book that covers serious problems in Africa - corruption and the hypocrisy to class homosexuality as a major crime.

This came recommended to me and I'm glad he did because this is out of my normal remit of reading. But it's nice to come across something different and this was a pleasing read.We see the story through the eyes of top hairdresser Vimbai and her relationship with male hairdresser Dumi in modern day Zimbabwe. We also experience what life is like in modern day Zimbabwe, including the corruption, the raging inflation and prejudice we find unacceptable these days.I found this a simply told story, which was one of the reasons I liked it so much and one of the small problems I had as well. The characters were easy to understand and engage with, and the Minister was menacing enough to be a frightening villain. One of the characters I felt sympathy for was Maidai - Vimbai's put-upon house servant - the poor girl was destined to a life of servitude, and not seen as an equal human being. Which was probably the point. I saw the ending, I knew what would be revealed but I would have liked to have seen more of this and the other's prejudice examined in more detail. However, this is still a gripping and interesting tale and I would recommend downloading this.