Still Life
A Novel
by Zoë Wicomb
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Pub Date Nov 03 2020 | Archive Date Nov 03 2020
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Description
A New York Times Top Historical Fiction Pick of 2020
A stunningly original new novel exploring race, truth in authorship, and the legacy of past exploitation, from the Windham-Campbell lifetime achievement award winner
When Zoëml; Wicomb burst onto the literary scene in 1987 with You Can't Get Lost in Cape Town, she was hailed by her literary contemporaries and reviewers alike. Since then, her carefully textured writing has cemented her reputation as being among the most distinguished writers working today and earned her one of the inaugural Windham Campbell Prizes for Lifetime Achievement in Fiction Writing.
Wicomb's majestic new novel Still Life juggles with our perception of time and reality as Wicomb tells the story of an author struggling to write a biography of long-forgotten Scottish poet Thomas Pringle, whose only legacy is in South Africa where he is dubbed the "Father of South African Poetry." In her efforts to resurrect Pringle, the writer summons the specter of Mary Prince, the West Indian slave whose History Pringle had once published, along with Hinza, his adopted black South African son.
At their side is Sir Nicholas Green, a seasoned time traveler (and a character from Virginia Woolf's Orlando). Their adventures, as they travel across space and time to unlock the mysteries of Pringle's life, offer a poignant exploration of colonial history and racial oppression.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781620976104 |
| PRICE | $25.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 304 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Veleta B, Librarian
Mary Prince's Autobiography has become a classic of the English language. She used to be a slave in the colonies. As an adult, she got married to an ex-slave, but in a way she abandoned him when she ran away to England. There was no slavery legally in England at that time, although there was a lot in the colonies.
She was helped by Scottish poet Thomas Pringle, a poet who supported abolition. I thought the novel was going to be more about Pringle, but it is more about Prince. Maybe because his support for her book is the true claim to fame for Prince.
The way it is written it reminds me a lot of Virginia Woolf, specially in the use of narrators and editorial voices. The "writer" presenting a manuscript to editor Belinda and being terrified about the comments she may or may not get was hilarious and one of the high points in this novel.
From a technical point of view, dialogue is embedded between narration without any brackets to mark it up. It takes a little while to get used to it, but it is a technique similar to what Woolf and other modernists used to do, so I got used to it pretty quickly.
I found it interesting that Mary Prince had to make concesions on what was said on her book --- specially given that it was an autobiography. If one cannot say what one wants in one's autobiography, this means that there is something seriously wrong about the publishing world. And then they claim to be the fourth power, and to be the greatest defenders of freedom of speech. Now, I am not sure if the confusion about the pig and the man was true, or just a product of Zoe Wincomb's imagination.
It is also funny what history may make to interpretation. The plaque than the offspring of Mary Prince's owners puts out is historical reinterpretation at its best.
Also, there is a moment in which a character, Sir Nicholas Green, says that he is sick of himself. No wonder, I was sick of him as well!!!!
My only negative is that I felt that it drags a little bit in the middle. Towards the end, my interest peaked again. I felt that the ending was quite strong. It is a slow-burner of a book which takes some time to read, for sure.
https://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/16054074
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General Fiction (Adult), Historical Fiction, Multicultural Interest
