Chasing the Tails of my Father's Cattle

“He reached down, softly laid a hand on the swaddling and said, ‘Here’s Shumikazi, Miseka.’ In that moment of sacred oneness, he beheld the dead-lips, bent down to her ear, and whispered, ‘Miseka... here is Shumikazi.”

This is the story of Shumikazi, the only surviving child of Jojo and Miseka. She grows up in a small village in the remote Eastern Cape during the days of white rule — from the outside, an apparently unremarkable life. And yet Shumi is marked for extraordinary things from the moment of her birth.

Wry, tragic, funny, scathing, with a Greek chorus of villagers’ voices, this rich new novel from one of South Africa’s most beloved storytellers underscores the dignity of those often rendered invisible — poor, rural women, their families and communities. These marginal characters crackle with life and verve as they step into the centre of the national narrative in Magona’s skilled hands. A powerful meditation on the vulnerability of rural women, it is also a series of overlapping love stories — above all, the love a father has for his daughter.

“Chasing the Tails of My Father’s Cattle is not like anything else I have seen. Such a little story, about such little, invisible people. Such a huge story, about such timeless, recognisable people. It has the feel of a Greek tragedy, complete with clucking chorus, but with more optimism. And what an extraordinary tale of the vast majority of women’s lives in this country. What a powerful, non-preachy meditation on the vulnerability of rural women in traditional cultures.” — Helen Moffett

• Author
• Sindiwe Magona

• Format
• paperback

• Pages
• 307

• Publisher
• Seriti sa Sechaba Publishers

• Language
• english

• ISBN
• 9780994677006

• Release date
• 2015