Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu
Anansi International
8 April 2025
384
eBook - PDF
Historical Fiction
ARC via Edelweiss
A modern Gothic story set on the African continent, The Creation of Half-Broken People tells the tale of a nameless woman plagued by visions. She works for the Good Foundation and its museum, a place filled with artifacts from the family’s exploits in Africa, the Good family members all being descendants of Captain John Good, of King Solomon’s Mines fame.
Our heroine is happy with her association with the Good family, until one day she comes across a group of people protesting outside the museum. Instigating the protesters is an ancient woman, who our heroine knows is not real. The nameless woman knows too that the secrets of her past have returned. After this encounter, she finds herself living first in an attic and then in a haunted castle, her life anything but normal as her own intangible inheritance unfolds through the women who inhabit her visions.
With a knowing nod to classics of the Gothic genre, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu weaves the threads of a complex colonial history into the present as she examines the collusion of colonialism, patriarchy, and capitalism in creating and normalizing a certain kind of womanhood.
The Creation of Half-Broken People contained a number of interesting themes and ideas, woven through a tale with a gothic tinge and a sense of the ethereal at times. Interspersed between the main plot were the stories of the women haunting the nameless heroine. Some of these I found easy to sink myself into, but one, around the middle of the book, didn't hold my attention quite as well, though my interest sparked back again once it was over and the main story continued. The messages in this book were clear but not preaching, and the narration added to the ethereal atmosphere the story evoked. I certainly enjoyed the author's writing style and the book's narrative structure and would read more by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu in the future. Despite these positives, though, I did finish the book with no desire to dwell on it or reread it and, as mentioned, my attention did waver here and there. As such, I pondered on the best rating to give it and decided on 3.5 stars, but I would round up to a four rather than down to a three.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
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