Botswana

When Rain Clouds
Gather & Maru
by Bessie Head

Born in a mental hospital in 1937, Bessie Head spent 15 years as a refugee in Botswana before gaining citizenship. Suffering poverty and the effects of apartheid, she neverthless held firmly to her belief that love can conquer hatred – a prevalent theme in these two stories. With much of her work having been written by candlelight with hardly enough paper to write on, Bessie died in 1973 at the age of 47. She has since become one of Africa’s best-known writers, thanks to posthumous publications of her work. In 2007 an award was set up in her name to promote her life and work and to encourage other African writers.

Virago, 2010
First published in 1969
ISBN 9781844086221