The Uncertainty of Hope
Felicity Heywood talks to Zimbabwean doctor and first time author Valerie Tagwira about her debut offering, 'The Uncertainty of Hope', and her country's recent struggles.
Set in 2005 during the months of May to December, 'The Uncertainty of Hope' , gives a view of life in contemporary Zimbabwe through the eyes of ordinary folk trying to get by.
Writer, Valerie Tagwira , says: "It’s a balanced picture of what Zimbabwe is like at the moment." The novel focuses on poverty, homelessness, domestic violence and issues related to HIV. Her characters are mainly women who face dilemmas such as turning to the black market to make a living; or professional women who are torn between struggling in their homeland or migrating.
This is Tagwira’s first book and she is reserving excitement about it until a few more reviews come in. Tagwira, a medical doctor, left Zimbabwe in 2002 and has been working in family planning and reproductive health in London ever since. She has a strong interest in women’s health and development issues and always had a sense of wanting to improve the lives of women.
She wrote the book evenings and weekends and became compulsive about seeing the characters take shape. She did little research as it was life she had observed while in Zimbabwe and particularly Mbare where the book is set. Tagwira says she had difficulty in knowing when to stop editing herself. "I was coming close to self-censoring," she says. It was her publisher who had a calming effect on her. She wants to write more to build her confidence.
Tagwira would like the book to raise awareness of issues related to women: domestic violence, childcare issues, sexual abuse. But she wonders, "Maybe I am too optimistic to think how much a book could do."
Tagwira recently came back from the Zimbabwe launch party for the book and says the responses have been extremely positive so far. On arriving in Harare, she says she was concerned for her safety. "I don’t get the feeling that we [Zimbabweans] are free to write anything". Writers in Zimbabwe, she says, have avoided depicting the current climate.
For good or bad, Valerie didn’t. The novel gives a fictional account of the well-publicised state demolition of ordinary people’s homes. Her friends were aghast that she included this in the book. "Fear is contagious," Tagwira says.
Each time she returns to her country she says she can’t imagine the situation becoming any worse. But it does. "It seems like all are existing as criminals. It’s an aspect of poverty."
Right now, Tagwira is concentrating on passing some obstetrics and gynaecology exams – to be sat later this year. But she hopes to write again in the near future – around women’s issues again, she says.
But before any readers out there might be thinking that The Uncertainty of Hope hangs men out to dry; think again. "There are lots of men in the book and they are not all bad," she laughs.
The Uncertainty of Hope by Valerie Tagwira was released on 29th March, 2007 on Weaver Press.