Writing Circle, The - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0796035040 ISBN 13: 9780796035042

Synopsis

Fiction. South African Studies. Five women gather every Friday night to discuss their writing. Isabel, returning home, where the writing circle are to meet, is attacked in her car at gunpoint and raped. But she manages to turn the gun on her attacker and shoot him. In coping with the killing, the disposal of the body, and the breakdown and recovery of Isabel, we learn about the intersecting personal lives of the women--Isabel, Carmen, Jazz, Beauty, and Amina, all successful professionals in today's South Africa. And when the body is discovered, and the identity of the attacker revealed, all their stereotypes fall away. The novel is narrated by all five women in their individual styles. Rozena Maart was born and raised in District Six, Cape Town, South Africa. In 1987 she was nominated for South Africa's "Woman of the Year" award for starting the first Black feminist organization. She moved to Canada in 1989 and published her first book of poetry in 1990, Talk about It! She has lectured throughout Canada and the United States with Speak Out! Speakers Bureau. In 1992, she won the Journey Prize for Best Short Fiction for her short story, "No Rosa, No District Six." Rozena Maart lives in Ontario.

About this title

Review

From "Carp(e)libris"

When I first started reading "The Writing Circle" by Rozena Maart (TSAR Publications), I immediately began wondering about the character Isabel. Why did she need someone to follow her home from work? Why did her house have large security gates around it, and why was someone supposed to watch for her at the window? Was she so important? But as I read further, I realized all the female characters were living the same way. No woman was leaving her house after dark without a male chaperon, and to do so meant admonishments from family and friends. Everyone had cell phones and checked in with each other constantly. Why? The answer was simple: They're women living in Cape Town, South Africa.

With a little research online, I was to learn "The Writing Circle" was not a strange and dark fairy tale, but a story based on the scary truth: South Africa has one of the highest levels of reported rape in the world. And when you consider a large percentage of rapes are never even reported, you have an even bigger problem that cannot be ignored.

Rozena Maart handles her characters with compassion and sensitivity, revealing the fear they live with daily and the memories they have to face when their writing group friend, Isabel, is raped in the driveway as they await her arrival. Each chapter gives a character a chance to speak in her own voice, every voice unique and richly layered. Their stories and how they deal with their friend's mental breakdown after the rape make this more than a book - it should be used as a tool to help loved ones of rape victims to understand the tragedy that continues to occur even after the rape has been committed.

"The Writing Circle" is a beautifully written, heartbreaking piece that will open your eyes to not only the issues of sexual assault, but to racism and biased viewpoints as well. Maart has written a novel with a greater purpose, one that will educate and enrich. If your book club is looking for a book to spark meaningful conversation and bring awareness to the group, no matter where you live, "The Writing Circle" will deliver that and more.

- Diane

About the Author

Rozena Maart was born and raised in District Six, Cape Town, South Africa, and moved to Canada in 1989. In 1992, Maart won the Journey prize for best Short Fiction in Canada. She has a PhD from the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham and currently lives in Guelph, Ontario, and Cape Town, South Africa.

Edition details

• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0796035040
• ISBN 13: 9780796035042
• Binding: Paperback