My dad and step-mum are champions of this project and for my birthday this year, they gave me two books, one representing Namibia and this one.

In a Nutshell:

This 130 page novella is part of the AWS (African Writers Series). It is a sort of whodunnit, it takes place on the eve of Eid, starting at 01.00 and culminating at 23.00, centering around the lives of a group of neighbours in Maputo, Mozambique. Neighbours gives the reader an insight into Mozambique’s history. Neighbours was written in Portuguese in 1995 and translated into English in this edition in 2001.

Themes:

Risk of destabilization, race, identity, and Mozambican independence

Observations:

There is a useful glossary of words and acronyms at the back of the book, which is a fascinating treasure trove.

The word, assimilado is described as ” a non-white person who has been accepted into white Portuguese society in Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique.)” This made me think of the word passing in English, not a literal translation perhaps but similar. Another word that caught my eye is tontonto, which has two definitions: “a person who has a grandparent of a different race” and “a traditional alcoholic drink.”

A Quote:

“Thus, when she completed her ninth year of school, Muntaz had to fight hard against her parents’ opposition in order to study beyond the limits considered normal in their milieu. ‘Study so much for what? Woman is not made to fill their heads with books,’ they argued.”

Details:

Book: Neighbours

Author: Lília Momplé

Translators: Richard Bartlett and Isaura de Oliveira

Publisher: Pearson Education Limited

Publishing Date: 11/10/2001

Author: Lília Momplé

Lília Momplé was born in Mozambique, she studied in Lisbon. In 1995, she became secretary general of the Association of Mozambican Authors, a position she held until 2001. She also represented Mozambique at various international meetings as a member of the UNESCO Executive Board. As well as writing, she was a teacher and even starred in a film (Comédia Infantil). She wrote 3 literary works and has won 3 literary awards.

Translators: Richard Bartlett and Isaura de Oliveira

I was unable to locate any information on either translator.

A bit about me!

Here I am with my husband visiting one of our favourite places in the world, the Westonbirt Arboretum!

A bit about me, my name is Jess Andoh-Thayre. I am from Brixton, South London. I currently live in Cambodia. Before living here in Cambodia, I lived in Tanzania with my husband, who is a diplomat. I have also lived in Chile and Spain. I am a French, Spanish and English as an Additional Language (EAL) teacher. I recently qualified as a SENCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator). After taking three years off to have a baby in a pandemic and also retrain, I have just returned to work as an Elementary Learning Support Teacher.