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The Collector of Treasures and Other Botswana Village Tales, 2/E
Bessie Head

ISBN-10: 0435909819
ISBN-13: 9780435909819

Publisher: Longman
Copyright: 1992
Format: Paper; 109 pp
Published: 08/03/2008

Suggested retail price: $11.95
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A sequence of Botswana village tales about subjects such as the breakdown of family life and the position of women in this society told with unique skill. Drawing on the rich oral tradition of Southern Africa, Bessie Head uses the language and imagery of the story-telling tradition. The collection is carefully sequenced, focusing on village people from Botswana, and the status and position of women in Africa.

Acknowledgements

1. The Deep River: A Story of Ancient Tribal Migration

2. Heaven is not Closed

3. The Village Saint

4. Jacob: The Story of a Faith-Healing Priest

5. Life

6. Witchcraft

7. Looking for a Rain God

8. Kgotla

9. The Wind and a Boy

10. Snapshots of a Wedding

11. The Special One

12. The Collector of Treasures

13. Hunting

Born in South Africa, Bessie Head, had a traumatic life and she drew heavily upon her experiences for her novels. Her first novel, When Rain Clouds Gather grew out of her experience as a refugee, and was followed by Maru and A Question of Power (1973). In 1977 she published The Collector of Treasures, a book of short stories exploring the position of women in Africa.


Bessie Head died in Serowe, Botswana in 1986, aged only 49.

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