Woman of the Ashes

February 26, 2018
Couto’s excellent novel, the first in a trilogy, chronicles the territorial power struggles of 1890s southern Mozambique, alternating between the voices of Imani, a 15-year-old living in the village of Nkokolani, and Portuguese sergeant Germano de Melo, who is sent to the village to protect Portugal’s conquest from falling under the control of Ngungunyane, the leader of Gaza. Unfamiliar with his surroundings and the local language, de Melo—whose exile to Africa is punishment for an attempted military revolt—hires Imani and her brother, Mwanatu, to work as his translator and guard, respectively. De Melo earns the trust of some villagers by promising to protect them from Ngungunyane’s forces, yet his garrison contains shoddy weaponry and the Portuguese army is nowhere to be found. As the weeks pass and de Melo’s sanity begins to waver, Imani deals with an unstable home life, her new employer’s sexual advances, and the possibility of seeing her village destroyed. Couto (Confession of the Lioness) feathers history with folklore; while readers with some knowledge of Mozambican history will get the most out of the novel, this is still a fascinating, intricate story.

Fans of world literature will fall headlong into this reimagining of the fight to keep southern Mozambique free of colonialism in the late nineteenth century. The pair of talented narrators work together to create the personas of Emperor Ngungunyane and teenage Imani. Bahni Turpin gives the teenager a steely voice that follows her through the tumult of the Portuguese invasion. Her chapters alternate with those performed by Joel Richards, who portrays Sergeant Germano de Melo. Listeners are treated to a rich historical tapestry most may know little about. Richards lends a slight accent to the Portuguese military man, which creates a nice contrast to the feminine Imani, who serves as his translator. The two are thrown together by fate, and their loyalties are tested--will they choose love or country? M.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine