To the black women we all knew

To the Black Women we all knew is a novel about four women: Ama, Pamela, Beauty and Matlakala, who are friends, trying to figure out or survive the abuse settled upon them by men, culture/tradition and society. In the midst of Soweto they daydream as they sew a quilt that is to be a gift of love for Ama who is about to marry a man she’s not sure she loves.

She is struggling with her doubts hoping to figure them out. Matlakala daydreams about love. What loves is, what it means to her and the kind of love she wishes she could have, as her reality turned out to be different.

Pamela is anxious for her friend, because as experience has taught her marriage was hell as her husband beats her at any given moment. Beauty feels nothing; she’s brash, insensitive and only cares about herself. But all this is a performance.

Deep inside, she hurts far worse than the others as she’s carried burdens of the past throughout her life. Her nonchalance grates on Ama’s nerves, because she appears to be better than them.