In this semi-autobiographical novel, Head tracks the protagonist Elizabeth's struggle to emerge from the oppressive social situation in which she finds herself, and from the nightmares and hallucinations that torment her. Elizabeth, like the author, was conceived in an out-of-wedlock union between a black man and a white woman of social standing - a union outlawed by her country of birth, South Africa. Elizabeth leaves South Africa with her young son to live in Botswana, a country that has escaped some of the worst evils of colonial domination. But in rural Botswana she is once again faced with a constricting social system as the villagers are suspicious of her urban ways and frown upon her individualistic behaviour. They also bear her ill will on racial grounds because she is light skinned like the 'Bushmen' who are a despised tribe there. Elizabeth suffers not only social isolation but intellectual deprivation as well. One of the few people with whom she can converse as an intellectual equal is the American peace corps volunteer, Tom. During the four years in which Elizabeth is plagued by mental, social and economic challenges, it is Tom, and her own love for and obligation to her young son that help her to survive this ordeal.

A Question of Power (Penguin African Writers)

Literature & Fiction

Head, Bessie

Genre Fiction

Penguin Global

It is never clear to Elizabeth whether the mission school principal's cruel revelation of her origins is at the bottom of her mental breakdown. She has left South Africa with her son and is living in the village of Motabeng, the place of sand, in Botswana where there are no street lights at night.

A Question of Power

Pantheon Books

Maru (African Writers Series) [paperback] Head, Bessie [Jul 31, 1972]

Maru (African writers series)

Travel

Heinemann Educational

A question of power (African writers series ; 149)

Literary

A sequence of Botswana village tales about subjects such as the breakdown of family life and the position of women in this society told with all the skill that one has come to expect of Bessie Head.

The Collector of Treasures And Other Botswana Village Tales (African Writers)

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Antiques & Collectibles

Heinemann (Txt)

An examination of Serowe's recent past - seen through the words and memories of the village inhabitants.

Serowe: Village of the Rain-Wind (African Writers Series)

Heinemann

An examination of Serowe's recent past - seen through the words and memories of the village inhabitants.

Village of the Rain Wind (Heinemann African Writers Series)

History

Africa

Heinemann Educational Books

A Woman Alone is a collection of autobiographical writings, sketches, and essays that covers the entire span of Bessie Head's creative life, up to her death in 1986 at the age of 49. It reveals a woman of great sensitivity and vitality, inspired through her knowledge of suffering with "a reverence for ordinary people'' and finding some healing for her own anguish in a quiet corner of Africa.

A Woman Alone: Autobiographical Writings (African Writers Series)

History & Criticism

This is an anthology of stories, personal observations and historic legends. It reflects the author's fascination with Africa's people and their history as well as her identification with individuals and their conflicting emotions.

Tales of Tenderness and Power (African Writers Series)

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Intense personal experiences of South Africa’s brutal social system, a sense of stifled creativity and a distaste for politics made Bessie Head leave for Botswana on an exit permit at the age of 27. There, in her chosen rural ‘haven’ of Serowe, and despite a severe mental breakdown, she wrote the novels and stories that earned her international recognition as one of Africa’s most remarkabble and individual writers. A Woman Alone is a collections of autobiographical writings, sketches, and essays which covers the entire span of Bessie Head’s creative life, up to her death in 1986 at age 49. It reveals a woman of great sensitivity and vitality, inspired through her knowledge of suffering in a ‘reverence for ordinary people’ and finding some healing for her own anguish in a quiet corner of Africa.

A Woman Alone

Pearson

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Head, Bessie. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Head, Bessie