Sindiwe Magona’s compelling oeuvre does not just tell tragic tales, but assembles narrative bridges connecting local and global readers in order to address the ignorance and indifference promoted by apartheid. Her first novel,
Mother to Mother(1998), examines the murder of Fulbright Scholar Amy Biehl during the violent conclusion of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle. Discovering that Nonthuthuzelo, one of her very close childhood friends, was the mother of one of Biehl’s murderers, Magona felt compelled to write the story, and described herself as being “pregnant with grief”. Save for her escape to America, the accused could have been her own son, she reasoned. Although
Mother to Motheris a fictionalised account of the event, it emotionally links the two mothers, bridging…
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Citation: Shober, G Dianne. "Mother to Mother". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 March 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=34389, accessed 26 November 2024.]
