Tendai Huchu takes us through the harrowing tale that sums the lives of migrants from Zimbabwe, in Edinburg, Scotland, struggling to come to terms with the torturous reality they left back home and their third class status in a foreign country that offers only menial jobs even to the finest of minds.
We meet the Magistrate, an incorruptible judge who had to flee Zimbabwe as he refuses to bend to the whims of the government of Robert Mugabe. A man used to the majestic powers of judges and the respect that comes with it, would in Scotland find out he cannot practice law. He soon finds that his refusal to take up one of the available jobs, was not just shattering his relationship with his wife but also, he was fast losing his authority as the man of the house. He takes up a job in a care home, only to return one day after a strenuous day at work, to find his Fifteen year old daughter in an act of fellatio with a White kid.
His torture doesn’t end with the unholy image forever plastered in his mind, Chenai would in a matter of months become a mother. He fights his nostalgia for Bindura, for what he once was, with cultural music. The Magistrate soon becomes a happy grandfather, the old romance between him and Mai Chinai reignited, even as he is cajoled by Alfonso into becoming the leader of the MDC (a party formed to restore democracy to Zimbabwe).
We meet the Maestro, a depressed twenty eight year old White Zimbabwean, who led a lonely life surrounded by stacks of books. He stops his medication, sinks further into depression and refuses to reciprocate the affection from his Polish friend, Tatyana. He abandons everything in his life and takes to hermitage. His journey of self-discovery soon brings him back to the arms of the woman he once rejected. But this ultimate turn of event, long overdue, last for only a day, as his foolery in the name of self-discovery has done more harm than good.
Finally we meet Farai (the mathematician, a PhD student), young, heady, yet intelligent. He lives with two of his friends; Brian and Scot whose real name is Tamuka, both Zimbabweans, who had also fled the gloom back home. Life was good except for Scot, who was suffering from a heartbreak. Farai soon stumbles on his supposed heartbroken friend, having sex with his girlfriend Stacey (a White ex porn actress). He swallows this incident in a civilized way and ask them to leave his apartment. Scot finds shelter with Alfonso a fellow comrade of the MDC. Farai falls in love with Supriti, but his joy is short-lived, as he is murdered by Alfonso over an age long dispute that dates back to Zimbabwe and, Scot is framed for the murder of his friend.
The drama lies herein, Alfonso who was thought to be dumb, was in fact the smartest of the lot. He had not only deceived the Magistrate about his personality and made him accept to lead the MDC, all his life was in fact an act, an undercover drama. One could easily decipher why Alfonso killed Farai, but why he would frame Scot a comrade of the MDC, for Farai’s murder, only proves how dangerous a man he is.
The structural brilliance of this story, is overwhelming. Huchu is not just a writer who knows how to place one word after another, he is a strategist, one who understands the element of surprise. Farai’s death, the Maestro’s death, at a point when they discovered love, was one too painful.