Upcoming Events on Sarudzai Mubvakure's Reviews

After reading the Chrome Rain series on Ivor Hartmann's Facebook page yesterday, i was sharply reminded. Ivor Hartmann is gradually releasing the story in parts of which i have read five. The story is about a young woman, Mry-Ann, who leaves her home upset and it's possible she might never return. She has to go through the desert which has it's dangers. For survival she knows she has to get to an oasis called the Al Wabe. When she finally arrives at the oasis she meets a 'Doc' who lives in a tent heavily painted with Alchemy symbols. That is what struck a chord in me. It reminded me that i have to complete my review of Paulo Coelho's book, The Alchemist which in contrast is about a shepherd boy, who after meeting a mysterious King, decides to sell the rest of his sheep and cross the desert to reach the Eqyptian pyramids in pursuit of a hidden treasure. As he crosses through the desert he arrives at an oasis where he meets an Alchemist. My review of The Alchemist, as promised, will follow shortly. Ivor Hartmann's Chrome Rain Story, which has some science fiction, can be followed on Facebook.

Therefore, with loads of reading and reviewing to be done i am beginning to realise that this is a full time job. I am an Occupational Therapist by profession but soon i will be reading and writing full time!!. I love to encourage others in their craft and see them bloom. At the same time, I love learning from those that are doing an excellent job of entertaining the world with the written word. Both aspects of what i am doing help me to improve on a daily basis.

Books Reviews:

Just a short recap and to let you all know that i intend to keep to my word. These are my outstanding reviews:

1.African Folktales for Children by Uncle Blen Blen

2. A Caribbean Tale by Rudy Gurley

3. Many Rivers by Christopher Mlalazi

4. Harare North by Brian Chikwava

5.Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama

6. Elergy for Easterly by Petinah Gappah

7. Journeys of Love, Voices of the Heart" by Hillary Roy and Rose Mitchell

Then something knew that i would like to add to my list. This is a debut novel by Janine Dube called A Dark Horizon. The front cover is above. I have copied the blurb of her book from her website.

"After inheriting a struggling company Rachel is tempted into marrying an older man who also happens to be one of the wealthiest and most powerful businessmen in the country. She knows she faces an uphill struggle but she relishes the challenge of resurrecting the ailing company. Soon she is facing more challenges in the form of his children, especially his son who is adamant that she is wrong for his father. As she struggles to prove herself at work and at home she is unaware of the meticulously planned plotting meant to bring her already shaky world crushing down."

From the blurb i am sure that i will enjoy reading about the the struggles and hopefully triumphs of the protagonist Rachel.

Short Stories:

Over at the Story Time E-zine i have been reading some short stories. The ones i have read so far are incredibly written with thought provoking themes and life lessons (ALL of them). The ones that come immediately to mind are Yesterday's Dog by Masimba Musodza and Dear Sender of the Bulldozers by Christopher Mlalazi.

A Disapppointing Truth:

This is the title of my debut novel which i must say has been generating a lot of reader interest in the past few months. I have started a blog at http://adisappointingtruth.blogspot.com/.

Anyway, the plot is generating much debate and discussions. Many people have shared their experiences with me for example which characters they hate, which ones they love. Some have told me the moments of their tears of sadness and tears of joy. As a result of all this, a few people, of their own volition, have decided to start a book club! Hopefully i will be able to persuade them to write their opionions on my blog!! So that is an update on my writing and very encouraging indeed.

In addition, a friend of mine called Dayo Ogunmuyiwa has asked if he could work on a screenplay based on A Disappointing Truth. That is fantastistic!! Will tell you what he comes up with.

My new books:

I have some new novels that have been working on and hopefully will have them published in the next four years.

1. Amelia's Inheritance ( You can find an extract to read on this blog)

2. Sarah - Truth on Another Level (Sequel to A Disappointing Truth)

3. Tom & Eliza

4. Marcus and the Daughter (a story based in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, the United States, Italy and London)

New Horizons:

1. Because of my passion for film and screenwriting, i will be starting a blog where i will be reviewing the plots, dialogue and characters of some of my favorite films. This will be purely for my learning. I had a fantastic opportunity of working on some TV scripts with US Film Director Rahman Oladigbolu. A great learning experience for me.

2. I am going to start publishing some of the songs i have written over the years. Certainly new beginnings.

Anyway, i suppose i will get back to my reading, writing and publishing!!

Breaking the Chains of Shadow Beliefs by Bernard Antwi

Review Part Two

With much gratitude and excitement I received my copy of Christopher Mlalazi’s novel Many Rivers with its incredible cover design which I will talk about in later reviews!. It truly has been a great joy reading the publications of the Lion Press Limited. This is why with equal excitement I can now present my second instalment of reviews for Bernard O Antwi’s work, “Breaking the Chains of Shadow Beliefs – Discovering what stops your progress”.
As a quick recap, Antwi says that “shadow beliefs are binding chains that can keep you stuck in patterns of failure”. The first shadow beliefs that Antwi tackles are Sin and Fear. In this review, we will concentrate on sin!

Antwi describes sin as “the most powerful source of human downfall.” With a punching statement like that, we ought to pay attention!
The word sin is widely used in our vocabulary today but mainly as a source of light humour. For example “Eating chocolate is one of the seven deadly sins.” You would hardly hear someone say, “He committed a sin by killing that boy”. Instead we would say he committed a serious crime or we would label him by calling him a murderer.

So, the question is - what is sin? Antwi says that many people think that sin is breaking any of the Ten Commandments that were given to the biblical Moses by God. (Many of you will remember Moses from the blockbuster movie, The Prince of Egypt or if you’re older you may remember Charlton Heston’s great performance in the movie ‘The Ten Commandments’) Antwi says that this is not entirely accurate. I will extract a piece from Antwi’s work for you to see what he says “However, the bible lets us understand that sin was there before the law was made. ‘Romans 5v13 states, “For until the law sin was in the world but sin is not imputed when there is no law’” (Chapter One, Page 12)

Antwi then goes on to explain what he believes is the true definition of sin before giving a deeper explanation of the scripture given in Romans 5v13, above. Personally I believe that further explanation would have helped those that may not be so familiar with the biblical stories to understand what he is saying. Nonetheless, the use of the scripture is entirely accurate.
What Antwi and the scripture are saying is that before God delivered the Ten Commandments to his people, sin was already in the world, but no one could be accused of being a sinner because there was no law. Meaning, a crime is only a crime when you have broken the law. That is why when you are accused of a crime, the police, lawyers, jury and judge all study the evidence to determine whether you have broken the law or not.

Therefore, according to Antwi, if sin was in the world before the law was given, sin is not just simply breaking the law, as in the Ten Commandments. Antwi says, and I quote “The biblical interpretation of sin means “to miss the mark,” showing the standard of perfection established by God and the evidence of Jesus Christ”. If I understood correctly, Antwi states that sin is falling short of, or not meeting God’s standards and these standards are reflected or demonstrated in/by Jesus Christ.

In a nutshell, Adam was in the garden of Eden and he disobeyed a specific command from God by eating the forbidden fruit that he was persuaded to eat by his wife Eve. God was truly ticked off and he kicked Adam and his wife Eve, out of the garden. God kicked Adam out of the garden because, according to Antwi’s definition, he had fallen short of God standards. In this case, he had fallen short of God’s standard of obedience. He had disobeyed God and from that point onwards was called a sinner. The bible in Romans 5v12 says that through Adam’s one act of disobedience ‘sin’ entered the world. God was so ticked off by sin that the result of any sin was death. The definition of death here means separation from God, hence Adam being kicked out the garden. The Garden of Eden was a representation of God’s presence and when Adam disobeyed, he was kicked out of God’s presence (God’s life) and this was death – separation of your spirit from the presence of God.

Therefore, even without the existence of the Ten Commandments, the destination of Adam and all his descendants was death. Even though his wife, children and descendants had not eaten the forbidden fruit like Adam, their destination was death. We all inherited death from Adam. If you are born into this world, even a million years after Adam and Eve, you are born into sin – born into death. Antwi quotes this scripture in Romans 3v23 (New Living Translation) “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Seems like tough terms – one person messed things up for everyone!!)
The question then remains – if everyone’s destination was death after Adam’s action, what was the point of the Ten Commandments.? Antwi has not elaborated on the answer to that question as it may be out of the scope of his teaching. Nonetheless it is a valid one. In the simplest of terms the Ten Commandments was given in order to give definition to sin, or as a guideline to show us where we had sinned. Remember, without a law there are no grounds for accusation. It is because of the Ten Commandments that things like stealing and murder are considered sins. The world today calls them crimes and has attributed specific standards of punishment to them.

Antwi states that, “Sin makes a person become a slave and condemned to death”. He also states that “sin cannot be sized or weighed”. Sin is sin whether it is adultery, lying, stealing or murder.

Therefore, sin has grave consequences. Sin, which results in death, is definitely a shadow belief. It stops your progress in life – in fact, it kills you. It will be very comforting if Antwi were to give us steps to guide us out of this. Is it possible to be in a place where you will never sin or face the consequence of death? Surely it would be great to live a full and prosperous life – or indeed live forever? Eternal life is a constant subject of fascination used in fantasy movies of today. The scripts have villains that kill off everyone that stands in their way of getting the magic potion that, if they were to drink, would give them eternal life. “Stardust” starring Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Ricky Gervais and Peter O’ Toole is a classic example!
But in today’s real world, without the access to magic potions, could the concept of eternal life be realised? Is it possible to overcome sin, considering the human frailty and weakness that we are all familiar with? In the next series of reviews of “Breaking the Chains of Shadow Beliefs”, we will find out what Antwi has to say about it. I look forward to it!

Reviews on the Horizon

As i was preparing to complete the second part of my review of Bernard Antwi's work - Breaking the chains of Shadow Beliefs, i thought i'd share another installment on my 'to do' list. These are books that i have come across through connections in cyberspace, and i must say that i am very eager to read them. "Many Rivers" by well known Zimbabwean Author Christopher Mlalazi is a story about an illegal immigrant in South Africa. This novel has been descibed as a comical page turner. So it's definitely something to look forward to.

A Caribbean Tale by Rudy Gurley is about a young Caribbean boy who develops big dreams and big ideas after he stumbles upon a book called The Power of Positive Thinking. The story sees the young boy making the decision to travel to England where he believes his dreams will come to fruition. I'm looking forward to taking that journey with Rudy Gurley's main character.

Then something different! I'm going to be reading a childrens book called African Folketales for Children by Uncle BlenBlen. This is the pseudonym for Zimbabwean Childrens writer, Dr Jonathan Masere. Children are our future and i appreciate it when people take the time to write especially for them.

And finally, this is an installment from one of my newest friends in cyberspace. Her name is Hillary Roy. Her first published book, which she has co-authored with Rose Mitchell is "Journeys of Love, Voices of the Heart". It is a collection of stories on one of the most talked about subjects. That subject is love. Looking forward to read both Hillary's and Roses' take on the most powerful force our world has ever experienced.

Playing for Pizza by John Grisham

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd (5 Jun 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0099519881

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With many books still to read and review as well as a new book to finish writing, i decided to close the pages and put my pen down. I decided to pause and take a thought for John Grisham's novel Playing for Pizza. I finished reading this novel a week ago and i had to take a moment before making any comments. I had to sit and ponder over the experience of reading this 336 page novel.

This was my first John Grisham novel to read. I had watched the movie adaptations of his novels "A Time to Kill" and "The Pelican Brief". I must say that i was incredibly impressed and was fascinated by the plots. In a nutshell- incredible. Therefore, you must imagine the excitement i had when i decided to pick up and read Playing for Pizza. So the question now is "Why did i choose Playing for Pizza?", considering John Grisham has many novels to choose from. Well, the answer is that whilst standing in Waterstones Bookstore, i was hooked after reading the first two pages.

Rick Dockery is an NFL Quaterback for one of America's most famous football teams, the Cleveland Browns. The story opens with Rick on a hospital bed after being injured at one of his teams most crucial games. Unfortunately his team has lost the game and it's his fault. As he lies on his back in the hospital, Rick watches as his career takes a nose dive. The team does not want him back. The fans want him dead and the press repeatedly crucify him.

Rick's agent struggles to find him a job as America no longer wants to tolerate the disgraced Quarterback.However, in the midst of all of this humiliation, a glimmer of hope opens up for Rick. His agent finds him a job to play for a little known team called the Parma Panthers.

Rick is delighted that at least someone wants to give him a second chance however, his hopes are deflated when he realises that the Parma Panthers are in Parma, Italy.

Rick has never been to Italy and he has never in his life earned as little as 2000Euro's. This offer seems riduculous to accept however, Rick is quickly persuaded when he realises that he has to escape the insults of Sports reporter Charley Cray. As Cray is out to murder Rick's career, Parma Italy begins seems like an inviting offer.

As Rick arrives in Parma, Grisham provides vivid imagery of the scenery in utterly beautiful language. Rick meets the Parma Panthers and their American Coach. They are a group of individuals who play the game not for a salary like Rick. They play the game for the passion of it and for the free Pizza and beer after the game - Playing for Pizza !

Rick soon gets used to the passionate nature of the Italians. Grisham's writing is often amusing as he graphically describes the Italians, their city of Parma and their strong love for Pancetta ham, Pasta, wine and cheese.

The goal of the team is to win the Italian Superbowl and their hopes lie in Rick Dockery helping them achieve this.

This is a story about their successes and their failures. It's about how an Italian team in Parma Italy taught an egotistic American Quarterback that there are more important things in life than money, power and prestige. Rick Dockery learnt about honour, loyalty, friendship and buckets of passion.

Playing for Pizza is not an intricate plot like the "Pelican Brief". Neither does it have emotionally wrenching moments like "A Time to Kill". Instead, it is a simple story with a simple lesson that many may fail to identify. The lesson is an initiation into life and coming to maturity.

"I Have Reached Bestsellerdom" !

As a new author i have this goal in sight and that goal is to be a bestselling author. The passion arises from this amazing desire to have millions of people read my stories, enjoy them and discuss them over coffee and a croissant. I suppose that is the desire of every writer - i.e for their work to be read, all over the world, by millions. If that was not the case then why do we publish and more so, why do we blog?

In my quest for achieving 'bestsellerdom' ( The Kingdom of the Bestsellers), i spend my time learning from the masters of the craft. What is it about a bestselling story? What is it about a bestselling writer? What is it about the bestselling author (i.e. their attitude/personality) - Why do some people like them? What sort of people hate them?

Therefore, i have lined up the three books above on my desk - Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father, John Grisham's Playing for Pizza and Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist.

I have one hundred pages left of John Grisham's book and already i've learnt a lot and am looking forward to posting a review of it. Just from brief browses through Obama's and Coelho's books I immediately see the reason for these author's star quality. Their books have easily flowing language, making for the ultimate page turner!

Through surfing the net and my sister's great efforts to publicise my first book (in fact my first attempt at writing anything in my life), i have met some authors, publishers and journalists from Zimbabwe and afar - to name a few, Sarudzayi Chifamba Barnes ( Reviewed her novel Endless Trail- read it on this blog), Emmanuel Sigauke (Not a fan of poetry - i prefer the biblical psalms but i reviewed his poetry collection Forever Let Me Go and it was not bad) and Jonathan Masere (who seemed a bit offended by one of my Christian Book Reviews but we managed to have a civil discussion about it).

Then out of the blue i got an email offer for a free proof copy of a novel by Zimbabwean author Brian Chikwava - called 'Harare North'. If i'm honest i had to surf the net in order to find out who Brian Chikwava was. Bearing in mind that prior to my churning out a 736 page novel i never used to read and i certainly never used to write. I barely scraped a C grade at O'level English. Anyway from reading the proof, i decided that i needed to buy the real published copy. I plan to buy it this week. The reason is because i think the proof had real bad grammar mistakes - meaning i did not understand the English. I mean, i thought i was bad ! However, from reading some of the reviews that people have written, the language in the book was deliberate. Anyway, i'm buying my copy to see for myself. In addtion, i'm still smarting from the toilet paper joke on page one. My first thought was it's ok for the diaspora to laugh - they have real toilet paper. But it might not be so funny for those who have to use the newspaper in real life and then have to pay out sums of money that they don't have to unblock the toilet or flush out the septic tank. - But then again it's all fiction (at least for some) - and i'm getting my copy.

Then i've now come into contact with a blog of another newly published Zimbawean author called Petinah Gappah. I had never heard of Petinah either. Do you blame me? I mean i did'nt even know that Charles Mungoshi wrote poetry or had written many books (I got that information from Emmanuel Sigauke and then i had to do some serious net surfing so as not to look stupid). I only knew Mungoshi as one of the actors in the local drama's - which i must say i thoroughly enjoyed.

Anyway, i will add Ms Gappah's collection of short stories to my library and read them - i am certainly sure to learn a lot from her as well as all the authors and publishers mentioned.

Anyway, my goal may seem to some an unachievable one in the midst of inexperience, the need for supposedly aggressive editing needed in my first novel (pointed out by some readers/authors in both public and private arena's), the fact that i have extremely few contacts, no invitations to literary events and very few flocking to read my blog posts.

However, a characteristic that i am learning from the great achievers is that you keep believing in yourself even in the face of staggering oppositions. And believe me the oppositions are staggering. However, despite this, You maintain your confessions and never give up !

Like Barack Obama i too have dreams from my Father. And because of the powerful spirit of faith within me i believe that i will manifest that goal and many a people, in fact millions of different races, will have a smile on their face whilst they drink coffee and eat a croissant buried in the pages of a novel by Sarudzai Mubvakure!

Be expectant for a review of every single book mentioned in this blog post ! - happy reading !

Breaking the chains of Shadow Beliefs by Bernard O Antwi

Paperback: 83 pages

Language: English

ISBN: 978-0-9558082-7-2

Publisher: Lion Press Limited

Review - Part One

Whilst dreamily reading Playing for Pizza by John Grisham and eagerly awaiting the delivery of Many Rivers by Chris Mlalazi, I received a pleasant surprise through my post box. It was the paperback advice book by Bernard Owusu Antwi called Breaking the chains of Shadow Beliefs.
Once I’d taken out the book from the brown envelope, I instantly liked the cover design – a silhouette (shadow) of a man running and breaking through a link of chains. From the title of the book I immediately had the question – what is a Shadow Belief? This was obviously enough ammunition to turn the pages and begin to read the 83 page book. From a brief overview I discovered that the book is divided into three parts, with an introduction at the beginning. The introduction explains what a Shadow Belief is. Part One looks at the Characteristics of Shadow Beliefs. Antwi outlines 9 characteristics. Just to name a few - Sin, Fear, Pride, Procrastination, Self defeating attitude etc. In Part Two, Antwi outlines 7 consequences of shadow beliefs. Then Part Three, I’m glad to say, is the perfect resolution to his work – 7 Keys to Resolving the Predicament of shadow beliefs.
From my general overview of the book I realised that simply doing a single review of this thoroughly, biblically, researched work would be unfair. Therefore, I decided that a series of reviews of each part of the book would be interesting to do. It then made me think of a previous book that I have reviewed – The Laws of Thinking by Bishop E Bernard Jordan. I will be revisiting that book and reviewing each of the 20 Laws in Bishop Jordan’s work and probably cross reference with Antwi’s work.

What is a Shadow Belief?

Antwi says, and I quote, “Shadow beliefs are the unconscious negative thoughts in our heads that can manipulate our whole lives, decide our abilities, what we can do and what we cannot do and drives our behaviours.”

He says that shadow beliefs are a problem as they seem to cause pain, damage and prevent the progression and success of the individual. Antwi, I believe, is on the right track by making reference to the fact that negative thoughts can have quite a harmful effect on our lives. My understanding is that thoughts as a whole i.e. whether positive or negative have a great impact on the shaping of our personalities - or the shaping of who we are as individuals. The bible clearly states this in Proverbs 23v7 –“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” (New King James Version). Therefore we are a sum total of our thoughts. With this in mind, shadow beliefs can be quite destructive. Therefore, Antwi’s calling to help us to erase shadow beliefs from our minds is a great one.

Antwi quotes Napolean Hill as saying “What the mind of a man can conceive and believe, it can achieve”.

This again is true as the bible says this in James 1v13-15 “When tempted no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full grown, gives birth to death”

That scripture is, as Antwi outlines, saying that thoughts when they are conceived, crystallise into actions. The scripture above talks about negative thoughts however, if you have positive thoughts they eventually crystallise into positive things happening in your life. Shadow beliefs crystallise to negative and painful things happening in your life.
In the midst of these powerful truths that Antwi was sharing I was struck by the following statement that Antwi made: “Beliefs are more powerful than thoughts”
My first question was - are they? Then I looked at Napoleon Hill’s statement which seems to contradict Antwi’s statement. Hill says conceive, believe then achieve. There seems to be some sort of order there i.e. conceive is birthed from thoughts, then believing precedes the action. Anyway, who is to say that Napoleon Hill is the authority on these things? So let us look at the English dictionary:

Belief: something that is accepted as true
Thought: an idea, a consideration

Just from those definitions alone, before you have accepted something as true, you have first been presented with the idea or the concept of it. Therefore thoughts have a direct influence on beliefs. My question was then should the statement not be – thoughts are more powerful than beliefs?

As I looked through the bible searching for scriptures, what Antwi meant dawned on me. Antwi is right when you look at it from a different perspective. I realised that we may have many thoughts that run through our minds however, the only ones that have an impact on our lives are the ones that we brood on, conceive and then become a part of the battery of our beliefs. Until a thought is conceived, it just remains a thought that can evaporate, disappear and have no impact on our lives whatsoever.

Therefore, yes, beliefs are more powerful (influential) than just mere thoughts that can evaporate. However, it must be realised that beliefs were once mere thoughts. Thoughts are the culprits of the shadow beliefs that Antwi talks about. So to get rid of a shadow belief you are going to have to get rid of the original negative thoughts that were conceived to become a part of the belief system. In the bible Romans 12v2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” In other words – change your thoughts – change your thinking to positive and you will transform your life!

The subtitle of Antwi’s book is – Discover What Stops Your Progress. In the current climate where people all over the world are experiencing financial hardship, affected by wars and rumours of wars, affected by natural disasters and planes falling out of skies – it is refreshing to hear a word from someone to help you to get out of the rut, progress forward and live a victorious life.

I will discover Antwi’s teachings as I go through page by page, review by review.
In my next review we will look at the first instalment of Antwi’s characteristics of Shadow Beliefs – Sin and Fear. I look forward to sharing it.

A Disappointing Truth - What is the Colour of Love?

Rudo Mwari is a young, beautiful, teenage girl. She is a young, African girl that has secured employment to work as the house girl of the white Englishman, Mr George Witt, who has come to live in Rhodesia.
Rudo and George live in Rhodesia however, they live on either side of the racial divide. This is a wall that separates the black people and the white people. It is a wall that separates the colour of their skin. However, the laws of segregation are broken on every level in Georges home as he agonises between the opposing forces of desiring what is forbidden and the fear of getting caught.
Rudo has no idea that the association with her white boss will one day result in the birth of a daughter, Sarah. It is an association painted in the shades of love but also an assosciation that may cause a spiral of events that will hurt all those around them, including Sarah. In the novel 'A Disappointing Truth', find out the colour of George's love for Rudo.

The Heart of A Leader by Ken Blanchard

The Heart of A Leader - Insights into the Art of Influence

Hardcover: 162 pages
Publisher: Honor Books (Jan 1998)
Language English
ISBN-13: 978-1562924881



The Heart of A Leader is a powerful reference book by best selling business author Ken Blanchard. This book is easy to read and gives quick, easily accesible tips on leadership that can be used in any aspect of life - not just the corporate world. On the left side of each page is a short leadership tip by either the author or well known celebrity or public figure. The right side of the page has a short explanation or expansion on the leadership tip. For example One tip reads as "None of us is as smart as all of us". To the right of this page is the expansion which talks about the importance of team work in an organisation. Another is "When you stop learning, you stop growing" - The expansion on the right includes these words - People who are upgrading their skills increase their value in their specific organization and job market in general. Another tip is "Choose work you love and you will never work a day in your life" (by Confucus) - (this is my personal goal in life!!)

Another brilliant one is "Positive thinkers get positive results because they are not afraid of problems"

"Ducks quack. Eagles Soar" and "Work smarter not harder !"

Wise words from Eleanor Roosevelt "NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION"

Lastly one of my favorites - "We are not human beings having a human experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience" Ken Blanchard says this 'I beleive personally that the quickest and most powerful way for individuals to significantly enhance their self esteem and become a more loving and accepting person, is having a spiritual awakening'.


Wise words and an incredible reference book from a successful bestselling author. Reading this book will certainly enhance the way you look at life - it opens your eyes. A definitely recommendable buy for your reference library

A Disappointing Truth by Sarudzai Mubvakure

This is my debut novel. I have added the Review of Independent reviewer Melissa Levine

Paperback: 736 pages
Publisher: Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd; First edition (30 April 2008)
Language English
ISBN-13: 978-1906210960

“Love ignores the faults. And that’s why no matter what, our love is forever.”In Sarudzai Mubvakure’s debut novel, A Disappointing Truth: The Tragic Life of Sarah Witt, the lead character so frequently encounters catastrophic events that forgiveness does not seem to have a place in her life. But it is the choice to forgive that ultimately leads the young, bi-racial woman to unconditional love and true happiness. Mubvakure’s story unfolds in London, New York, Zimbabwe and ends in Scotland were Sarah accepts the limitations of those who have caused her harm and makes the decision to move forward in her life.

In the fall of 1971, a young woman is violently raped in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Her assault will greatly impact the lives of several people, including Farai, the young boy who witnesses the crime and a group of English entrepreneurs who have set up businesses in Rhodesia to make their fortunes. The members of the “English Boys Club” become deeply involved in the plight of this young woman whose attack results in the birth of a daughter.

The opening scene of the book is Sarah Witt’s wedding. From there, the author unfolds the details of Sarah’s life starting with her matriculation at a notable arts college in New York City. Sarah was raised by her father George Witt and her paternal grandmother. She was told that her mother, a black Rhodesian, died when Sarah was two-years-old. Her father passes before she journeys to America to attend school. As an Art History and Music major, Sarah makes friends who will remain loyal to her throughout ordeals that occur as she finishes school (sexual assault by her mentor) and during her early adult life (separation from her church and the murder of her first husband in front of her). As Sarah’s own multi-layered story escalates, the details of the secretive English Boys Club slowly unravel as her Uncle Peter and the group’s head man, Algeron Fairbanks, find it increasingly difficult to hold on to the secrets of their shared past. When Sarah decides to seek out information about her mother, the truth that surfaces is startling.

The author displays a strong command of plot and characterization. Sarah and those closest to her are fully formed personalities who become easily familiar as they appear throughout this 700 plus page tome. The protagonist is presented as a beautiful, intelligent, dynamic woman who actively serves any community she finds herself a part of. While Sarah works hard and is successful in both music and business, the murky details of her mother’s life plague her. Mubvakure offers the reader vivid descriptions of the global setting in which the story takes place. On occasion, the author does repeat too much of the plot that the reader has already been informed of, possibly because the book is quite long. With the acumen shown in this book, Mubvakure is sure to grow into the type of writer who trusts her readers’ memories and thus offers just enough information to spark recollection.

As Sarah is slowly enlightened about her parent’s past and the consequences of her own conception, the author infuses the character with a strength that enables the young woman to accept the string of lies that she has believed all of her life and to transform into a person with the maturity required to choose forgiveness.A Disappointing Truth: The Tragic Story of Sarah Witt is overflowing with sadness and tragedy, but the author offers hope throughout the tale. Mubvakure challenges our understanding of what humans can endure and how they can come out improved and drenched in love on the other side.Melissa LevineFor Independent Professional Book Reviewershttp://www.bookreviewers.org/

Your Chance to Review !! - 'Amelia's Inheritance'

I am currently writing a second novel, "Amelia's Inheritance". It is another suspense novel situated in 1960's to 70's Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). It is about a young white, woman Amelia Gruber who falls in love with a young, black lawyer Peter Mudondo. Amelia Gruber's life has turned for the worst when her family's fortune disappears - they lose their land and become a part of the growing population of Rhodesia's 'poor whites'.  Take a look at an excerpt below:

Sample Chapter:

Chapter Nine – The Team

We went to a part of town that I had never been to before. We had quite a few people staring at us and this unnerved me. Peter helped to calm my nerves. “Don’t pay them any mind. They obviously have nothing better to do.” He smiled and in response I had no choice but to smile. I felt safe with Peter. He had an aura of kindness about him. I was in the middle of somewhere, with a man I hardly knew and surrounded by people that were suspicious of me because of the colour of my skin. However, I felt safe. Very safe indeed.
Peter ushered me through the door of a bar called ‘Scotchys’. The smell of beer and the cigarette smoke embraced us. There was music in the background and a lot of chatting going on. Peter grabbed me by the arm and guided me to the back of the pub. We walked down two steps to a more spacious area. There were booths lined all around the perimeter of the room. People would walk up to the bar, get their drinks, and walk back to the booths to sit with their friends. The air was fresh, even though it was lined with the strong smell of alcohol.
In the distance, I could see some disco lights and people dancing on a marble floor. That was obviously where the music was coming from. I patiently followed Peter as he eagerly looked through each booth. He was probably looking for his friends. As we walked across the room, with people staring at us, a very round woman with short hair and dangly earrings came and tapped Peter on the shoulder. Peter swiftly turned around. The woman had a bright smile, milk chocolate coloured skin and very striking brown eyes.
“Peter where have you been?” she bellowed. Her voice was very deep.
“Hesi Chipo (Peter gave her a hug). I’ve been working hard.” Hesi when translated means hello how are you.
Chipo brushed something off his shoulder. “Well all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
Peter Chuckled. “I know, I know.” Chipo looked at me with an inquisitive look on her face. It was obvious that I was with Peter but she chose to look away, continue talking to Peter without saying hello to me. I was embarrassed. I don’t know why but I was.
Peter noticed that Chipo had looked at me and so he turned around and brought me forward by grabbing my arm.
“Chipo this is a friend of mine. Her name is Amelia.”
Chipo looked at me from head to toe then back to eye level. She gave me half a smile. “Pleased to meet you.”
I smiled. “Pleased to meet you too.” I held out my hand for a shake. Her hand was soft and meaty to the touch. That was no surprise as Chipo was a very big woman.
She shook my hand whilst looking at Peter. “Where is Portia?”
Peter looked a bit embarrassed. “Chipo, let’s not start ok. Only God knows where Portia is.”
She chuckled. “Ok, Ok …loosen up. No pressure.”
“Are the guys here?” asked Peter.
“Yes, they are in the Blue Room.”
Peter raised his eyebrows. “How did they manage that?”
“Don’t worry it’s on me. They told me that you were coming and I decided that Peter deserves only the best!”
Peter laughed. “Thanks Chipo.” Peter then looked at me and was startled as if he had forgotten that I was standing behind him. “Sorry for making you stand behind me.”
I frowned. “Don’t worry. It’s not a problem at all.”
Chipo was studying our interaction. When I caught her eye she quickly looked away.
Peter distracted me. “Amelia, Chipo owns this place with her boyfriend Konza. She and Konza have been good friends of mine for years… I went to school with Konza.”
I stood and listened thoughtfully. He was such a polite man, well spoken.
Suddenly, he grabbed my hand and said, “Let’s go and meet the rest of my friends. Maybe then, we can have a few drinks. (He looked at me softly). You must be hungry.”
“Just a little,” I said. He charged forward and I followed behind, ignoring all the probing stares from the people sitting in the booths.

The Blue Room was the quiet, sophisticated room in the basement of the club. It was usually reserved for the wealthy (usually the Township crooks) who wanted a little ‘privacy’. However, on this day, Chipo had reserved it for Peter and his friends to come and have a good laugh, a few drinks, and some good food after a hard days work.
I was so excited about having some fun for a change. I hadn’t been out in a long time. Most of the people whom I had called my friends had moved either out of town or out of the country to progress their careers. Candice had married a wealthy investment banker. The other three girls had gone off to University in South Africa and Europe. Therefore, once again, I was left behind, as a complete failure and embarrassment to mankind. The world agreed with my mother that I was useless and now I was about to sink even further by having a few drinks in an all black club. Well, I didn’t care about what anyone thought – I was there to have some fun. I deserved it.
As I followed Peter through the door of the Blue Room, a roar of laughter welcomed us. “Hey Peter, what time do you call this?” said a man with leather trousers, way too much jewellery, a bright coloured shirt and a patchwork cap. He was chewing on a matchstick and standing just by the entrance with a mug of beer in his hand. He looked at me and then at Peter. Two others (a man and a woman) that were sitting in a round shaped booth greeted Peter, whilst looking at their watches.
“Come on man. We’ve been waiting for you,” said the man that was sitting down.
“I know, I know. Anyway, in case you all forgot, I did have a job to go to today,” said Peter.
“Hey we all got jobs ok. But 6 o’clock is 6 o’clock. We agreed,” said the man who was sitting down. The man in the patchwork cap followed us as we sat down at the table. He sat down next to me, still looking at me. Everyone went into a brief silence. I knew that I had upset the applecart. I had upset the status quo.
Peter took his suit jacket off and loosened his tie. He looked at everyone round the table, then at me.
“Amelia, you must excuse my friends – they were born rude.”
The lady spoke up. “What do you mean rude? Introduce us fool.”
Peter shook his head then. “Amelia this is the beautiful Letween.” Letween and I greeted each other and smiled. She held out her hand for a shake. She was an extremely attractive woman, about 5 foot 4 inches tall. She had short, very neat afro hair, stud earrings, and very slender, manicured hands.
“Nice hair,” said Letween.
I was embarrassed. My hair did not look nice. It looked like the edge of a matted broom. The man with a patchwork cap intervened with a smirk on his face.
“Well it’s white hair…easy to comb”
I saw Peter look sharply across at the man with the patchwork cap.
“What?” he said, looking at Peter who was clearly annoyed.
Courageously I decided to diffuse the tension. “I’m not sure about easy to comb, but thanks for the compliment.” I let off a smile but I was crying inside.
The man in the patchwork cap was of an athletic build. Peter introduced him as Trix. Letween was sitting quite close to the other man. This man was relatively good looking, slender and wore a very nice tailored blue suit. He put his arm around Letween.
“Amelia this man here is Thomas. He is Letween’s boyfriend and he happens to be my best friend.”
Thomas shook my hand. “Please forgive me Amelia. It’s just that we were a bit surprised when we saw you. We were expecting Peter to bring someone else. It’s a pleasure to meet you anyway.”
“Thanks.”
I was getting a bit uncomfortable at the way that Trix was still staring at me.
Peter stood up. “Ok I’ll get the first round of drinks. What are you having?” he asked me.
“Martini,” I said.

Whilst Peter was gone, I felt someone press against my arm. I turned to the side and noticed that Trix had placed an open box of cigarettes in front of me. It was a box of Madisons’ finest. At that moment I became the weakest link.
“Cigarette?” he asked.
I couldn’t resist. “Yeah thanks.” I took the cigarette and waited for him to light it for me. Trix was still making me nervous but the strong aroma of the Madison cigarette helped to calm my nerves. Madison never let me down. Peter came back with the drinks. He had ordered food for us – sadza (made from maize meal), chicken stew and green leafy vegetables. As I puffed the smoke out of my mouth, Peter looked at me surprised. He looked at the cigarette then looked back at me. I knew there was something wrong. He quickly brushed it aside and said, “I’ll get the food.”
I nodded. For the first time, I felt embarrassed about my bad habit.
Trix spoke up. “His last girlfriend was a smoker. Peter hates smoke.”
Everyone was looking at me now. “Oh,” I said and shyly tapped some ashes into the ashtray.
“Trix leave the girl alone. That shouldn’t be a problem for you as you’re not his girlfriend… are you?” said Letween. I was cornered and so embarrassed, hoping that my face had not gone for the red.
Trix had his hands up in half surrender. “Of course I’m sorry. I should not make assumptions. Should I? Go on finish your cigarette, after all you’re not attached to him are you?” he chuckled. I felt hot.
Thomas decided to intervene. “Shut up you two. Amelia ignore them. And Trix can you stop staring at the girl like she stole something.”
“Hey babes we were just teasing her,” said Letween.
Trix seemed to be fuming slightly. “I’m not teasing. I am testing. She could be a spy?”
At that moment, Peter returned with Chipo following behind with hot plates of food on trays. Peter looked over at Trix. “Don’t be stupid Trix.”
“Hey, you pay me to look after all of you ok. All I’m doing is my job.”
“Well stop working and have some food. It is your night off. Come on man. Amelia is my guest and I would like you to treat her with respect,” said Peter.
He made me feel so much better. With Peter, there I felt safe. Immediately I snuffed out my cigarette – I didn’t seem to need it anymore.
Trix picked up his plate of food. “Ok you are the boss.” Sorry for staring at you Miss,” he said to me.
“That’s ok.” I said.
I looked at Peter and he smiled at me. I smiled back. We dug into our meals and had a few drinks. I had a marvellous time. That evening I learnt that both Peter and Thomas were lawyers. They had both studied at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa. Letween had also studied at the University and was now teaching African History at a high school in the high density suburb called Highfields. However, during the school holidays she would help Peter and Thomas with the work that they were doing. Trix was a freelance, detective, bodyguard, go- between, and bouncer. He was a man that knew every trick of the trade going, on the streets. That’s why they called him Trix.

Woman Thou Art Loosed by TD Jakes

Paperback: 196 pages
Publisher: Treasure House (May 1, 1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1560431008
ISBN-13: 978-1560431008


The Pastor of the Potters House Church in Dallas Texas has shared with us in his novel, 'Woman Thou Art Loosed', his express gift for story telling.

At the open of the story a young woman enters a church building with a gun in her bag. In an unexpected twist, in the most unlikely place, three shots are fired. The story then begins to reveal, layer by layer, who was shot and why.


Woman thou art loosed assaults your emotions. You are gripped with the reality of both the difficulty and necessity to forgive no matter what has been done to you in life. The challenge is the life of a young woman, abused as a child by the man that her mother loves.
The story is constructed by a series of flashbacks in the life of the main character Michelle Jordan. Her life shifts rapidly back and forth between the past and the present without losing the reader. I was amazed at how i was able to keep up with the story even with the jostling back and forth. It is a well constructed plot with characters that you begin to care about and characters that ignite your emotions. The characters are so real that you may find yourself being tempted to hate some of them. I couldn't understand why Michelle Jordans mother was so blind. But i was sharply reminded at the end that all sinners are in need of a saviour - a view that some may disagree with.



However, we must forgive as we have been forgiven. For in forgiving others we gain the power to let go of the past. This was not just a story but a hard and important lesson. Thanks to Bishop TD Jakes for this masterpiece of essential and extremely unique story telling.

Your Rights in Christ by Chris Oyakhilome

Format : Paperback
Pages: 50
Publisher : Loveworld Publishing 1998
ISBN : 978-34658-4-8
5th Edition 2007
The Pastor of Christ Embassy International Churches, Chris Oyakhilome, has written this easy to read 50 page book on the "Rights" or the privileges that there are to being a born again Christian. The book is divided into four simple chapters that elaborate on the rights of the believer in Christ. He focuses on the three rights or priveleges that every Christian has i.e. the 'Right to Choose', the 'Right to Live' and the 'Right to Rule'!
Pastor Chris says that every believer has the right to choose what they want in life. He picks on biblical stories such as the blind man called Bartimaeus (The Book of Mark 10v51) who called out to Jesus in a crowd. Jesus stopped to pay attention to the man and then asked the man " What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus at that point was giving the man a choice! In the story the man chose to see again. Instantly the man was no longer blind ! Pastor Chris even talks about the right to choose who you want to marry. If a man goes up to a woman and tells her - "God said i should marry you", the woman should know that she has to exercise her right in Christ to either reject or accept the man ! It's up to her.
Every believer has the right to live. He says that if a born again Christian has fallen seriously ill, they should not die of that illness because they have the right to live. This is different for someone who is not a born again Christian. The right or the privilege to live is reserved for the born again Christian. Whether the born again Christian lives or dies, depends on whether they know their rights and have exercised them. He quotes 2Timothy 1v10 where the bible says that Jesus abolished death and brought to light life and immortality through the gospel.
Every believer has the right to rule. He quotes Revelation 1v 5-6 where the bible declares that every one in Christ has been made a 'King' and a 'Priest'. Pastor Chris explains that Kings rule and reign. Whatever a King says, happens. He quotes Ecclesiates 8v4 where the bible says that the words of a King have power. Therefore our words carry power and weight. Whatever we say comes to pass.
Pastor Chris says that many believers are not aware of their rights in christ and so they never exercise them. That is why they are not living the glorious lives that Jesus Christ came to die for them to live.
'Your Rights in Christ' is a book that you want to read over and over so that that awareness of your rights in Christ becomes so strong. Before long you will find yourself exercising them and seeing tremendous results in your life. This is a definitely recommended read.

Forever Let Me Go by Emmanuel Sigauke

Paperback: 79 pages
Publisher: PublishAmerica (2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 160563364X
ISBN-13: 978-1605633640

There’s a Budding Writer in the Park !

Forever Let Me Go is a collection of poems that make you laugh, cry, ponder and remember. Emmanuel Sigauke picks on a myriad of subjects to express his emotions. These are emotions that everyone can truly identify with. He has different styles of writing his poems but my ultimate favourite are the ones where he is very descriptive. This style helps and guides the reader to picture his colourful imaginations.

For me the unforgettable poems are the fresh and inviting 'Budding Writer in the Park', the emotionally drenched "Remembering Mother" and then the extremely abrupt "Taking it to Another Level"

The poem "Taking it to Another Level" is about a sweet relationship gone bad. It starts like this -"I Have known every atom of you that has absorbed into every aorta of mine...." Then the last line ends with the two sadly breaking up !! "Until at last we say: 'Honey let's see other people.'"

Forever Let Me go is a collection of poems that you can keep in your library and pull it out at your leisure when you want to be taken on a journey of love, life and nostalgia. Emmanuel Sigauke is a Zimbabwean poet that is 'on the go' to achieve new heights in the world of poetry - to express the heart of life from his seasoned experiences and journeys throughout the world. In the title poem Forever Let Me Go he says: " I will keep on going until I am a spark in the eyes that see me go"

The poetic style of Emmanuel Sigauke will truly leave a spark in your eye. A satisfied spark that says - "I will never Let you go"

On Holy Pilgrimage - A Long Journey For Freedom by Rahman Oladigbolu

Paperback: 444 pages
Publisher: Oracle Publishers (September 12, 2005)
ISBN-10: 0976835401
ISBN-13: 978-0976835400





On Holy Pilgrimage - A Long Journey For Freedom is a beautiful true story about how a young man, Rahman Oladigbolu, dared to have a dream - his dream was to go to America and be a film director/maker. In the beginning, we are given beautiful vivid descriptions of Rahman's early life growing up in Nigeria, Africa. Rahman is a prince in the Yoruba tribe of the Oyo state. Due to his royal heritage and his father's prospering businesses, Rahman has a privileged lifestyle - being chauffeur driven to school and living in houses that leave his friends in awe and envy. After his mother and father separate, Rahman goes to live in another Nigerian state to live under the care of his maternal grandparents. He begins to see them as his parents and we are moved by the incredible love that Rahman has for his grandmother. The descriptions of Rahman's early school life are incredibly amusing particularly the incident where all the children of the town swarm to Rahman's house just to hear him speak some English - which they can neither speak nor understand. What the children do not realise is that Rahman himself is terrible at the language (at the time), but they are none the wiser!

The story moves on with Rahman's increased desire to become a filmmaker. A relative who studied filmmaking, in America, in the 1970's, inspires him. It is from this relative that Rahman gets to see a written screenplay for the very first time. After finishing his high school exams with top grades, he opts out of going to a Nigerian University to study for a higher degree as his plans obviously lie elsewhere. He contacts an uncle, living in America, for assistance to realise his dream however, his first hurdle is obtaining an American Visa, which he has heard is extremely hard to get. We watch Rahman as he goes through an agonising journey of trying to get the `golden' American Visa. He tries all avenues to get this American Visa, both crooked and straight, but all roads lead to nowhere. In the height of disappointment, we are marvelled by Rahman's unwavering faith and determination to realise his dream. Then comes the climax of his struggles, which sidetrack and delay his plans to travel to America. He develops a mysterious disease that cripples him both mentally and physically. The very long and descriptive account of his ordeal is almost unbearable to read and your heart cannot help but to bleed for him. It is unclear as to the cause of his illness i.e. whether his illness has a scientific explanation or his illness is as the result of witchcraft. The author goes into a lengthy discussion about this. However, whether the reason is scientific or witchcraft, the truth is that Rahman's agony, pain, and struggles are real and he needs a way out.

A glimmer of hope seems to appear in the midst of it all - he meets a beautiful girl called Nike. Rahman falls for her deeply and it seems that she is the compensation for all the `hell' that he has been through. Unfortunately, Nike betrays him with one of his best friend's. Rahman is heartbroken and we are left exhausted wondering whether the madness will end. However, through the loss of the love of his life Rahman gains a valuable revelation regarding the meaning of love. Through much deliberation, he realises that he did not actually love Nike - he used her to fill the vacuum of his life that was caused by the disappointments. He comes to a powerful realisation that the best love is when two independent people who are content with who they are, offer each other security, trust and understanding. The ability to offer this, Rahman says, stems from an understanding and trust of oneself. Rahman teaches us that true love suffers long and it casts out any trace of fear. His religion, which from his descriptions seems to be predominantly Islamic, provides a source of comfort and strength throughout his ordeal. He comes to believe that only God can save him from the darkness he has found himself in. He knows that God will be the light that will eradicate the darkness. He remembers his grandfather once saying to him -"You will win by the grace of God." Close to the end of the book, the author says that he has found a better faith. His faith is - 'the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want'. From this we realise that Rahman is transitioning from religion to relationship i.e. a relationship with the Lord. We wonder whether the Lord he refers to is Jesus Christ of the Christian faith, who is the Good Shepherd.

At the end of Rahman's journey, we are elated as Rahman finally realises his dream and manages to contain his health struggles. He injects us with a syringe full of faith to believe that all is well and that he is well. Through a series of agonising (some humiliating) events, he eventually crosses the seas to America. He has realised his dream. He has arrived at Freedom. A freedom which has come at a high price. The price is almost ten agonising long years of waiting, pain, ill health and the loss of people that he loves dearly. However, at the end of this Long Journey we realise that Freedom was not obtained just by entering America to pursue his goal of being a film maker - no! True freedom is coming to the knowledge of who you are and what your calling is. Rahman Oladigbolu experienced this true freedom. That is what he fought for - "You will win by the grace of God". He experienced the realisation of his calling and role in this our world that `God created out of his love for stories' (Ellie Wiesel). It took great adversity and great pain but the result, I am sure he would agree, is beautiful. Rahman Oladigbolu is presented as an intelligent, kind, very determined, compassionate, and incredible individual whose name we will continue to see `shining in lights' in the world of creativity in the years to come. This is not just a story about the Nigerian experience on the road to live in America but it is a human story. This is a true story of love, strength, pain and the audacity of faith. A must read for all dreamers - those who dare to believe that their dream can, and will come true. !!!

The Endless Trail by Sarudzayi Elizabeth Chifamba-Barnes

• Paperback: 196 pages


• Publisher: AuthorHouse (13 Mar 2008)


• Language English


• ISBN-10: 1434375153


• ISBN-13: 978-1434375155


• Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 12.2 x 1.3 cm

Our attention is captured immediately by the attractive cover design. A woman is seen sitting on the ground. She has her back to us and we can sense that she is in distress - she is sad. The ground that she sits on is a pathway that leads off somewhere into the distance - we wonder if that is the Endless trail. Overlooking the woman is the face of a man, almost looking remorseful. Already the excitement wells inside you to find out who the woman is, what happened to her, why does she seem sad and what has the man got to do with it !

A young, hardworking couple from the remote, rural Mpatsi Village in Zimbabwe, decide to sell their prized possession - a cow. The money from the sale is to be used to send their daughter Jenny to one of the best boarding schools in the country. It is out of the norm and general custom to send a girl child to school however, Jenny's parents are adamant that they want the best for their daughter. They want to one day see her rise up and out of the poverty and hard life they have experienced. The young Jenny is presented as a shy and timid young girl that is regularly picked on at school. Girls at school gang up on her and make fun of her rural background. She does not have the clothes, money or the social status of the other girls therefore she quickly finds herself isolated. This forces her to be buried in her studies. She works hard mainly to find something that will make her "better" than her peers. Despite the isolation she eventually makes friends with another student Letwin who she manages to find some common ground with.

With one year left of her education, her father, the main bread winner, dies. Her education is threatened and jealous relatives threaten to take her out of school as they feel that the tuition is too expensive. Her mother is driven away from her home by unreasonable relatives and her siblings are scattered from one family to the next. What seemed like a bright future of education and social climbing is obviously falling apart. However, a miracle happens and the nuns at her high school offer to sponsor the remainder of Jenny's education. There is a sense of relief for the protagonist as we see her finish her education and, later, her higher education. Her goal is to look after her mother and her siblings. She marries her college sweet heart Edwin. They have three children together and life seems to be going as planned.

Unfortunate circumstances strike again and Jenny finds out that her mother has full blown AIDS which she contracted from her husband - Jenny's father. When her mother dies she is distraught but resolves that her mother and father contracted AIDS due to their' lack of Education'. The older Jenny is presented as a woman who is proud of her achievements and looks down on those who are 'not educated'. Her focus seems to be on social status and achieving the next thing. Whilst working hard, her relationship with her husband unexpectedly turns sour as he has an affair with their domestic worker and leaves her.

With the economic hardships in Zimbabwe and no hope of salvaging her relationship, Jenny decides to move to the UK to earn more money and hence improve her social status. She moves without any legal documents to live or work in the UK. It is when she moves over that her husband dies. He has died from HIV and AIDS. Jenny is then advised to take an HIV test. She finds it ridiculous as her notion is that HIV infection is for the uneducated and after all she had been separated from her husband for a while. After much persuasion from friends Jenny has the test done. She is suddenly brought down to earth and humiliation when she finds out that she too is infected - infected by Edwin. The story then goes on a sometimes exhausting trail of Jenny finding out about the HIV status of every person that she knows including her old school friend Letwin. Even one of her children is HIV infected. Then in a mad twist another child of hers gets HIV infected after being raped by their HIV infected gardener. We soon learn that the story is an Endless trail of HIV infection.

At the close of the story we see Jenny trying to come to terms with her condition with health regimes and medication. She makes plans to return to Zimbabwe to look after her children. Her goal is to run education workshops to support people with HIV and to educate people about the condition. She comes to terms with the reality that she was in fact 'the uneducated one'. Her work in Zimbabwe, she hopes, will help the Endless Trail to come to an end.

This is a good fictional resource for HIV education workshops in Zimbabwe. A wonderful fiction novel for Zimbabweans in the diaspora and people of all cultures that enjoy a good story.

The Laws of Thinking - 20 Secrets to Using the Divine Power of Your mind to Manifest Prosperity by Bishop E. Bernard Jordan

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Hay House (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401917968
• ISBN-13: 978-1401917968

There are many statements that people have found offending in the book such as Therapist means THE RAPIST, or 'There are no poor people in America' My assumption is that these are statements that Bishop Jordan has made by looking at life from a certain perspective and his statements have possibly been over generalised and taken out of context. Not all therapist's are shrinks which is the meaning that Bishop Jordan is using to derive his conclusion that all therapists are rapists. Some Therapists such as Occupational, Speech and Physiotherapist's actually tell you like Jesus - to pick up your mat and walk. However, don't let these statements put you off.
The Laws of thinking, i believe, are not necessarily secrets, but they are principles that one may have learnt along the road of life but has just not been practising them. In his book we have Laws such as the Law of Becoming, the Law of Predestination, the Law of Faith, The Law of Money, The Law of Writing and so forth.

Bishop Jordan comes to remind us and then kick us in the rear -into action. All of Bishop Jordan's principles are principles that Jesus Christ himself taught. Jesus Christ summed up by telling us that the source of true prosperity is to Love God with all that we are, love our neighbour like ourselves and be a servant to all . But he also explained that we can only do this with God's help.
Therefore, lasting prosperity comes from being in God. This Bishop Jordan explains in the first law of his book called the Law of Becoming. So, fellowshipping with God and studying His word leads to true wisdom, prosperity and renewal of your mind. Bishop Jordan lays out what the Lord has already taught in 20 laws. No book is a substitute for the word of God, however, Bishop Jordan's book is a good reminder to us that we need to renew the way we think. This book is a must read and an excellent resource for your reference library.