The Book of Not

Set during Rhodesia's Bush War and the early years of Zimbabwean independence, the novel follows Tambudzai Sigauke, a young Black woman navigating a colonial education system, family trauma, racial humiliation, and the search for selfhood in a society that persistently denies her recognition.

The novel opens at a morari, a nighttime political gathering in Tambu's home village. Her uncle Babamukuru, who enrolled Tambu at the Young Ladies' College of the Sacred Heart, an elite, predominantly white convent school, has been accused of being a mutengesi (sellout) for his ties to European institutions. Guerrilla fighters beat him savagely. Tambu's younger sister, Netsai, walks toward a guerrilla known as the Big Brother, a man she is romantically linked to, and a landmine explodes beneath her, blowing off one of her legs. Their mother, Mai, collapses on the ground. Babamukuru, though severely beaten, drives Netsai to a doctor and then to Umtali General Hospital, with Tambu riding along to provide English-speaking cover at roadblocks. As they depart, Mai whispers bitterly to Tambu to go back to the people who are killing her sister. Tambu hisses back that she is going.

Returning to Sacred Heart for her second year, Tambu finds everything feels empty. She reflects on her first year, when she reached fourth in the class behind Seema Patel, her dormitory mate Ntombizethu Mhlanga (Ntombi), and Tracey Stevenson. She set her sights on the honor roll. After the morari, however, she cannot concentrate. Every time she tries to focus, she sees a one-legged woman hopping backward over stepping stones of learning. During Latin class with Sister Catherine, her favorite teacher, Tambu freezes when called upon. Tracey answers the question Tambu cannot. When Ntombi later answers a final question and receives Sister Catherine's praise, Tambu is consumed by jealousy, a luxurious anger that displaces her grief.

The racial dynamics at Sacred Heart are constant and corrosive. Tambu and Ntombi share the last dormitory on St. Ignatius corridor, known as the African dormitory. Six Black girls occupy a room built for four, capped at a five percent government quota. Miss Plato, the stern German matron, begins her morning rounds at the corridor's top but always targets the African dormitory first, clanging her brass bell. One morning, Tambu unconsciously engages Miss Plato in a tug-of-war over her bedsheets, horrified when she realizes what she has done. At assembly, Sister Emmanuel, the headmistress, publicly humiliates the six girls for clogging the sewerage system. When Tambu uses the main bathroom out of desperation, Miss Plato catches her and enters a black mark against her name. Sister Emmanuel later reassures the dormitory girls that new government directives tightening racial quotas will not result in expulsions, explaining that separate bathrooms protect them from hostility by Rhodesian farming families.

During the holidays, Babamukuru reads Tambu's report card aloud. Her marks are excellent, but Sister Emmanuel's final comment is damning: Tambu "has a complex," believes she is "above convent rules," and "constantly wears a supercilious expression." The headmistress suggests Tambu might be better off removed. Babamukuru orders her to write a letter of apology. Her cousin Nyasha, who has bulimia and takes the tranquillizer Largactil, helps craft phrases of self-deprecation. At night, Babamukuru listens to the Voice of Zimbabwe broadcasting from Maputo, Mozambique, while Tambu lies rigid with fear that soldiers will hear.

Back at school, Tambu discovers the trophy cabinet and resolves that her name will be engraved on the cup for Best O-Level Results. She rises at four-thirty each morning to study in the bathtub. She reflects extensively on unhu, the Shona philosophy of reciprocal personhood embodied in the greeting "I am well if you are well too," and concludes that material success confers unhu.

The war intensifies. Mortar attacks grow closer. The Swanepoel twins' parents are murdered by guerrillas, and Sister Emmanuel announces a volunteer initiative to knit gloves and comforters for the Rhodesian troops. Tambu raises her hand. When Ntombi discovers Tambu's dark green wool in their shared cupboard, she erupts with terror, warning that domestic staff who may be chimbwidos (war collaborators) could report all the dormitory girls to the guerrillas. After this confrontation, the other girls communicate with Tambu even less.

In her third year, Tambu surpasses everyone to become top of the class. Days before the O-Level exams, she discovers her Shakespeare text hidden in the desk of Bougainvillea Edwards, a white classmate. She does not confront Bougainvillea. Results arrive: Tambu receives seven grade ones and one grade two, the best in the class. Ntombi achieves comparable marks, while Tracey gets six ones. At assembly, Sister Emmanuel awards the trophy to Tracey, citing her status as a champion swimmer. Tambu's name does not appear even on the honor roll. Ntombi urges her to inquire, but Tambu refuses, afraid to lose even the dream of having deserved the trophy.

For A-Levels, students travel to Umtali Boys High School for science lessons, but Rhodesian law forbids Tambu from attending. She must copy notes from her classmate Angela Reid and study alone. One evening, Ntombi arrives in terrible distress: Rhodesian security forces massacred her family's homestead, drowning her infant cousin after accusing her aunt of feeding guerrillas. Ntombi quotes Shakespeare: "Blood and destruction shall be so in use... That mothers shall but smile when they behold / their infants quarter'd with the hands of war." She tells Tambu they must stop smiling. Tambu's A-Level results are catastrophic: two Ds, one E, and only an O-Level pass in Mathematics.

At supper, Babamukuru shows Tambu the scar where a dagger gouged his arm during the morari. He reveals that Mai informed the guerrillas he was a sellout for sending Tambu to a European school. Tambu's father, Jeremiah, saved Babamukuru's life by finding the guerrilla commander. Babamukuru declares he will no longer provide for Tambu, saying she has shown that what others want of her is of no interest to her. Nyasha earns distinctions in all three A-Level subjects and wins a scholarship to England.

When Zimbabwe achieves independence, Babamukuru is struck by a stray bullet from the celebratory twenty-one gun salute; it lodges in his spinal cord and confines him to a wheelchair. Tambu takes teaching jobs, earns a lower second degree in Sociology from the University of Zimbabwe, and eventually becomes a copywriter at Steers, D'Arcy and MacPedius Advertising Agency, where Tracey is now an executive. Neither woman mentions their shared schooldays. Tambu moves into Twiss Hostel, a formerly whites-only residence where the elderly matron, Mrs. May, repeatedly calls her "Isabel," confusing her with another Black resident.

Tambu writes the Afro-Shine jingle, a brilliant piece of copy, but her colleague Dick Lawson, the senior copywriter, presents it under his own name at the Creative Director's request. The campaign wins golden awards, and Dick receives the internal copywriter award for Tambu's work. She congratulates him, then types her resignation.

Mai reaches Tambu by phone, berating her for abandoning the family and demanding she arrange medical help for Netsai's amputated leg. Mrs. May, noting Tambu's unhappiness, suggests she find a room elsewhere. Tambu explodes, shouting her real name at the matron. Mrs. May responds kindly, agrees she should have known, and then calls her "Gertrude." Tambu decides not to correct her again, reasoning it would only fortify conflict. She walks to the room she will soon vacate, having forgotten all the promises she once made about carrying forward the unhu of her life, wondering what future there is for her as a new Zimbabwean.