Lessons in Husbandry, by Shaida Kazie Ali

Lessons in Husbandry, by Shaida Kazie Ali. Random House Struik Umuzi. Cape Town, South Africa 2012. ISBN 9781415201398 / ISBN 978-1-4152-0139-8

This perfectly shaped novel, Lessons in Husbandry, a love story, mystery, eulogy, is full of surprises. Shaida Kazie Ali writes with a delicate poetic touch that tempers sorrow with humour.

Shaida Kazie Ali  

[...] There's a breeze blowing in my direction, bringing with it a whiff of sea air, but I can still feel a slippery layer of sweat super-gluing my spine to my dress (purple cotton, sleeveless, ankle length, for tall women, says the label), which in turn has bonded with the cafe's wrought-iron chair, making us the beast with several legs. If I clambered onto the chair, I might be able to catch a glimpse of the ocean down in the hollow of the town's pit. That's if it were a clear day, but today the city is hazy, already blanketed by an early holiday-season hangover. I'm trying not to be a clumsy narrator, Amal, but I don't know where to begin. I wish I could capture that first second when I knew you were gone, or even the memory of that original moment, and pin it to the page like a dead butterfly. But I can't. I only know that for a long time nothing happened, and then everything did. So here goes. I'll begin with the dedication. For my sister, Amal. You see, when I started writing this story, almost a year ago, my writing teacher told us to think of a person to dedicate our book to, to imagine that person as our ideal reader, someone who would read our words with compassion and generosity. I'm sure that's exactly how you'll read them, Amal, wherever you are.

LESSON ONE: How to Design a Memory Quilt

Alice stands in front of us, unassuming in a white shirt, blue denims and bare feet, exposing glossy toenails. Her hair has streaks of grey in it, like mine, but hers is blonde and cut into short feathery layers to match her owl spectacles. You'll be horrified to hear that I still wear my hair in a teacher-bun, or a single plait down my back. Alice says, "Memoirs entice readers with their truths, whether these are factual accounts or the vaguest of memories that you recreate from pictures in your mind." It's all very well for her to talk about truths, but if I were to tell the truth, I wouldn't be able to let anyone read this. Except for you, Amal. "To write the story well, you need to find the emotional truth of your narrative and bring it alive for your reader through smells, textures and rhythms." I look around at the other women in the class. There are six of us. I keep glancing at the woman sitting across the round table from me because she looks like Ursula the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid, except for her hair, which is black and curly. She is wearing a long sombre dress with a trailing purple scarf. [...]

This is an excerpt from the novel: Lessons in Husbandry, by Shaida Kazie Ali.

Title: Lessons in Husbandry
Author: Shaida Kazie Ali
Genre: Novel
Publisher: Random House Struik
Imprint: Umuzi
Cape Town, South Africa 2012
ISBN 9781415201398 / ISBN 978-1-4152-0139-8
Softcover, 15 x 22 cm, 224 pages