She is lonesome and ill-treated by the other students for her different skin: half African and half Chinese. Unlike any other Masarwa she goes to school where the Missionary, Margaret Cadmore, is principal. A baby born by a Masarwa (Bushman) woman who unfortunately dies right after giving birth, grows up under a white missionary’s supervision. Her works of fiction and autobiography were vital in the time of their writing but they are relevant even today. And Bessie Head is undeniably one of the greatest African women writers. But also wanted the novel to be so beautiful and so magical that, as the writer, would long to read and re-read it.” And it is surely a beautiful novel. She commented about Maru, and said that “with all her South African experience, longed to write an enduring novel on the hideousness of racial prejudice. For although she was South African she wrote about the political and social prejudices and injustices in Botswana. She is considered the most influential Botswana’s writer. She is the author of the novels A Question of Power (1973) and When Rain Clouds Gather (1968) among other titles. Who, due to political reasons moved to Botswana and spent most of her time there, teaching and writing. Maru (1971) is a novella by a South African writer, Bessie Head.
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