This is where she realizes how deeply his father believes that money can buy and heal relationships, when in reality she is miserable.Īs time goes by, Banda-Aaku starts a second part of the novel and narrates the political frictions in Zambia and Northern Rhodesia through Pumpkin’s life, now an adult woman with children. One day, tata arrives unexpected and Pumpkin is forced to go live with him and his other family. Her mother, to me, a very weak character, resorts to drinking while trying to deal with tata‘s absence and indifference. Pumpkin always talks about her father and the gifts he gives her and her mother, but her friends always point out how he is never there. surrounded by friends from the neighborhood. It then follows Pumpkin growing up with her mother on Tudu Court. This brief beginning foreshadows how her relationship with her father, and her mother’s relationship with him, will be central to the story, but also how it is a complicated one.

Followed by a very aggressive scene with her grandmother threatening to emasculate tata.

The novel starts with a prologue introducing Pumpkin, the main character, with two birth certificates one that states who her father is ( tata) and one that does not. Or, at least, this has been my experience. Their narrative tends to be flawless and despite opening many story threads, they come back full circle. I read Patchwork in four days, and I realized I missed reading African women.

Patchwork by Ellen Banda-Aaku