Publisher: Lion Press Ltd (15 Nov 2009)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0956242235
ISBN-13: 978-0956242235
As the sun rises in the east a woman gives birth to a baby girl in a mud hut in the heart of Rhodesia. The girls name is Mary and she is an only child.
Mary grows up fascinated by her mother’s beauty and envious of Mudhara (Old Man) Bodzo’s devotion for her. Mudhara Bodzo is her father and she hopes to one day have a husband to love her just the way she saw Mudhara Bodzo hanging on every one of her mother’s words.
With the passage of time, the young Mary grows into a young woman. She completes her higher level education and looks forward to climbing the ladder of success in the arena of teaching.
Like her mother, Mary has blossomed into a beautiful woman and it is not long before she catches the eye of Biochemistry graduate Cyril Maya. Mary is captivated by Cyril who finds it almost too easy to woo Mary. He serenades her with flowers, chocolates and American songs that he learnt whilst studying abroad. Then later, with his long muscular legs and possibly annoying American accent, Cyril proposes to Mary with the following words: “I am handsome, eligible and single and you’ve been marking time in this back and beyond. My guess is you’re ready for the picking.” The events following this infuriating little speech are astounding – Mary follows Cyril to the rural areas to meet his family!
On their trip to meet Cyril’s people, it is evident that Mary is besotted with him. To support her devotion, she finds that Cyril’s family are all together lovely. They are very proud of Cyril’s achievements in life and very impressed with the girl that he has brought home. Cyril’s father, the patriarch, warmly welcomes Mary to the family. He does this with glamour and panache by revealing a family secret that had been kept from the whole family for several years. The patriarch says that the revelation of the secret was done in honour of Cyril’s future bride. After the dreamy weekend in the Rhodesian countryside with Cyril’s wonderful family Mary is certain that she has found for herself exactly what mum and Mudhara Bodzo had – love.
Very quickly the relationship is sealed and Mary becomes Mrs Maya. Her hopes lie in a future with her handsome, successful husband. However, just as quickly as the nuptials are sealed, Mary becomes the new, official ‘Maya baby making machine’. The once, attentive, concerned Cyril turns into a stranger. Mary feels like a prisoner in her own skin. Her husband no longer cares for her. He loves the children no doubt, but Mary is no longer a novelty. She is invisible and her heart is broken. Due to the distance between them she can no longer call him Cyril. To her he becomes Moth – akin to an insect that bores holes in your clothes.
The Fading Sun is David Mungoshi’s NAMA award winning novel about Mary Maya’s agonising desire to be loved again by the man of her dreams. Together, Mary and Moth survive the Rhodesia/Zimbabwe civil war; however, their relationship is further seared by family tragedies. The agonising tragedies cause Moth to further withdraw and Mary is left drowning.
In the new Zimbabwe Mary and Moth are surrounded by all the luxuries that success can buy but Moth finds a new wife. His new wife is golf and a glass of whiskey mixed with water. He can no longer attend to Mary’s needs. He can no longer provide the affection she needs even when she finds out that she has a deadly disease - breast cancer.
Mungoshi writes with beautiful flowing language that allows you to feel and visualise every setting. He has the art of intensely wicked humour. His characters are fully formed. There are those you will love and those you will hate. The vivid images of the events in the Rhodesia/Zimbabwe civil war definitely leave an impression.
The story opens with Mary in her later years reflecting on the life that she has had with Moth and wondering how and why things went wrong. Mungoshi expertly tells the story in a series of flash backs. As the sun in Mary Maya’s life begins to fade, the hope of the reader lies in Moth becoming the man that he ought to have been.
The Fading Sun, which won a NAMA award in the outstanding fiction category, is a must read filled with humour, emotion and passionate beauty.
Other books by David Mungoshi:
• Broken Dream and Other Stories
• Stains on the Wall
