660. A Question of Power

A Question of Power
Bessie Head
1973
Around 210 pages

A female African author is about the rarest thing you can find on this List, besides an emotionally healthy sex scene. You can always tell when a book is underrated if the novel doesn't even get its own Wikipedia page. 

My only experience with Botswana is the Number One Ladies Detective Agency, which paints an idyllic and peaceful version of the country that I expected to be shattered immediately after reading this. The novel is a semi-autobiographical account of Head's life in Botswana after fleeing South Africa following a breakdown. 

This is such a genuine novel that it is obvious Head is drawing heavily from her own life. It's not a comfortable read, because we are in the head of somebody having a psychotic break. But the disjointed structure complemented the narrative well, as the reader was just as confused about reality as our narrator.

So I wouldn't label this an enjoyable find, but it was intriguing to get a glimpse of how mental illness is treated in Africa. And it's nice to get out of the West every once in awhile.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Head once said that Gandhi was God as a man.

UP NEXT: Fear of Flying by Erica Jong