The Theory of Flight

Starred review from November 16, 2020
An unnamed African country’s violence and AIDS epidemic frame a woman’s personal loss in Zimbabwean writer and filmmaker Ndlovu’s epic, supremely well-crafted debut. The novel begins at the moment of Genie Nyoni’s death from AIDS, when she is seen to “fly away on a giant pair of silver wings.” From there the novel details Genie’s family history, her childhood, and the intertwining lives of those close to her. Genie is the daughter of revolutionary idealist Golide Gumede, who expresses his belief in the power of flight as a metaphor for hope, and country-western singer Elizabeth Nyoni. When Genie is nine, soldiers raze her village, destroy her home, and massacre several of her neighbors. Still, she maintains a radiance and refusal to submit to despair, and as the years pass, her bright outlook affects those around her, such as the man who becomes her lover and then a famous artist. The truth about the early scene of violence in her village, which neighbors had pinned on her for Gumede’s revolutionary activities, is only revealed at the end, along with the source of her HIV infection. Ndlovu’s deeply moving and complex novel is astonishing for the amount of hope it evokes despite the darkness that’s so pervasive in Genie’s world, where she creates her own reality in order survive. This transcendent and powerful testament to the indomitable human spirit is not to be missed.