Debut novel a story for women of today

IF YOU are in for a read that explores complicated generational conversations within black families on a varying range of issues such as womanhood, parenting,

sexuality, sexual abuse, addiction, loss and most importantly, mental health, then Thenjiwe Mswane’s debut novel, All Gomorrahs Are The Same may be just the book for you.

Layered in 30 chapters, divided into three parts, the book is narrated through the eyes of three women. Makhosi who seems to be angry with the world, and is unable to find the language to make her mother and sister understand her “anger”. Duduzile, Makhosi’s mother, is a working-class woman, who feels she’s losing touch with her daughter. The book brings the reader into the lives of these women and their experiences.

Nonhle who is Makhosi’s younger sister writes about having to watch her sister grow up and being caught watching the generations (her mother and her sisters), miss each other.

When asked what inspired her characters, Mswane said Duduzile is inspired by the older women in her life.

“Makhosazana is inspired by the many women I’ve come across who are feminists and are queer. As a queer woman, she’s the closest character to me. She reminds me of the angry era I experienced being a university student trying to find her place in this country,” she said.

According to her, Nonhle is inspired by her younger sister who’s just begun varsity.

“She is black girl magic,” said Mswane. A privileged young woman who is almost oblivious to other people’s struggles. She understands why you’re angry, but not quite. She has a twang to her tone which a young black woman who’s attended a private school would have.

“At the time I began writing the book, I was frustrated with how inaccessible the world was to black people, black women.

“I wrote about things I know. I took a lot from my experiences when working on this book. The women I grew up around, and watched, inspired me,” said Mswane.

While it may be a heavy read, All Gomorrahs Are The Same is one of the most enlightening reads you will come across this year on loss and navigating sexuality in black communities.

If you read this book as a black woman in South Africa, you will come across recognisable characters in it. You may see reflections of yourself, it may reflect a particular woman you have in your life because the nature of our townships and the migrant city is constructed in a particular way.

There’s a narrative of how men are in this book – how women get slut-shamed for drinking in shebeens if they so wish. Educated women who may choose not to get married are also shamed in parts of our social circles. Mswane draws heavily from where she comes from.

All Gomorrahs Are The Same is available at bookstores nationwide. The book is published by Blackbird Books.

Thenjiwe Mswane holds a Masters in Anthropology. She is currently doing a PhD with SWOP (Society, Work and Politics Institute) at the University of Witwatersrand. Mswane is an experienced gender researcher and a retired Queer activist.