Niketche (Mozambique)

By Paulina Chiziane
Translated by Richard Bartlett

AFTER twenty years of marriage, Rami discovers that her husband is a collector … of wives.

She is horrified to discover that Tony, a senior police officer in Maputo, has four other households, children, families.

But instead of giving in to the anger of a woman scorned, she turns the tables to make an honest polygamist out of Tony by forcing him to marry her love rivals according to customary law.

No sooner have the five women learned to share than they discover that he has acquired a new lover. As they come to terms with the idea of a sixth wife, Tony is forced to accept a new order in which the women begin to find a purpose - and a voice.

With humour and compassion, Paulina Chiziane crafts a cautionary tale about assumed male superiority that brings together in the Mozambican capital stories from the country’s myriad traditions and regions.

Niketche, the name of an erotic dance, reflects a contemporary society grappling with issues of poverty, family and national identity as a diverse people unite in common cause. It will be published by Aflame Books in February 2010.

Paulina Chiziane was the first Mozambican woman to publish a novel and is one of the country’s leading authors.
Richard Bartlett is a publisher and journalist.

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