Where the Heart Is
by Andrew Chatora
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Pub Date Mar 17 2022 | Archive Date Mar 31 2024
KHARIS PUBLISHING, imprint of KHARIS MEDIA LLC | KHARIS MEDIA LLC
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Description
Where the Heart Is
Blurb
“Where The Heart Is, offers a nuanced view of one family’s struggle to negotiate cold Britannia as they face dicey neighbourhoods, sketchy liaisons and perennial ill-fate. The diaspora Chatora paints is not the glorified El Dorado but an honest place of grit and survival. A stellar contribution.”
– Tariro Ndoro, Author Agringada: Like a Gringa, Like a Foreigner
For Fari, life cannot be complete without quitting the back breaking struggle for survival in the UK and returning to the laid back streets of a warm Harare… but does it make sense for him to want to return to the periphery once more? The man who returns, why does he return? To what does he return?
For Maidei, Fari’s wife, Harare is dead and buried. It can only serve as a distant life and land of cultures of discord. She is determined to stay on in the UK and will not be led back to Harare by what she thinks is her thoughtless husband. If it were for sex, one does not go far for it. She does not waste her time debating which one is one’s real country between the centre and periphery?
For Fari and Maidei’s two children, family is surely not the fast-breaking filial ties. Family is inside you, in the subtle fox fight between what you want to become and when and not how you want to become.
Masterful in style and form, the narratives in Andrew Chatora’s Where the Heart Is are intensely provocative.
-Memory Chirere- University of Zimbabwe
Advance Praise
REVIEWS FOR
WHERE THE HEART IS
Through an expertly woven tour de force, criss-crossing the streets of Harare, London, Bangkok, Chatora’s characters seamlessly forge their own stories and identities in a poignant, immersive way which will enthral you.
- Gift Mheta – Durban University, South Africa
Where the Heart is raises compelling questions relating to identity and place. These cardinal questions are not capable of a settled answer, but they receive prominent attention in the book.
- Patrick Masiyakurima – Leicester University, UK
Where the Heart is: a compelling story told against the backdrop of Brexit era Britain where it is becoming increasingly difficult to live as an immigrant.
- (This is Africa)
A masterful exploration of what living in post Brexit Britain is like through the perspectives of immigrants. Offers unvarnished insights.
- Stan Onai Mushava – Author, Poet
Beautifully written and evocative, Where the Heart Is shines an illuminating light into diverse migrant experiences as they struggle to forge ties and make sense of their lived experiences.
- Malvern Mukudu – Author, Rhodes University, South Africa
Where the Heart Is, offers an unforgettable tableau of the struggles so endured by many immigrants.
Naomi Wheeler - UK
Marketing Plan
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Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781637460849 |
| PRICE | £12.68 (GBP) |
| PAGES | 239 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Sophie M, Reviewer
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC of this book.
Where the Heart Is is Andrew Chatoras second novel about being Zimbabwean diaspora in England. The book focuses on four family members, The husband Fari, his wife Maidei, and their children Muchadei and Yeukai. We meet the family as they struggle with remittances, unfaithfulness, cultural clashes, and family fall-outs. The book jumps back and forth between POVs, which can be confusing, but it's also really interesting to see events from different view points and how completely differently the family members view the situation.
There is something for everyone to reflect about in this faily short book. It isn't easy being a first-generation immigrant, struggling with the feeling of where in the world you belong, in your old or new home. However, it isn't less difficult to be a second generation immigrant, watching your parents inability to adapt into a society you deem normal.
As soon as I opened this book I fell in love with the the language, which is masterfully crafted and beautifully eloquent. I also loved the naturalness of the characters' struggles, and I loved the fact that the book wasn't cheesy while also not being overly pessimistic. The only think stopping me from giving it a full five stars is that the constant jump in timelines confused me, especially in the beginning, and that I feel there is a plothole that isn't covered. Other than that I highly recommend the read.
Educator 956748
An interesting account of life in the diaspora. I found that Chatora's portrayal of women as wives in this book and also in Diaspora dreams abit one dimensional. Chatora portray's them as unsupportive women who are vindicative and mean- almost like villans of the stories. In contrast, the men these women are married to, are seemingly good natured and hardworking - with families that take advantage of them. I am not sure that I this depiction sits well with me. I feel that this unsympatheic characterisation of wives and women in Chatora's novel's feels like a patriachal lens towards African women - and as such this lens fails to provide a robust, holistic examination into the challenges that women and men really face in diasporan communities.
