The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam by Lauren Liebenburg

I found this to be a wonderful book, narrated by Nyree, an 8-year-old girl who is growing up in Rhodesia with her sister in the 1970s. We hear about the country’s political unrest as seen through Nyree’s eyes and her childlike understanding of it. Her story is filled with a child’s innocence and faery tales about malevolent spirits, the mixture gelling to create a superbly dark tale. When the sisters’ world is disturbed by the arrival of their cousin Ronin, you realise that some very bad events are going to occur because he brings with him a deep sense of gloomy foreboding. At times this book made me laugh out loud, but there are other moments of great sorrow that had me reaching for the tissues to mop my tears. I loved the way that Liebenburg gave her writing a Grimm style flavouring. For me it added to the darkness that surrounded this time in history. Overall, this was a funny, sad, poignant and haunting read and one that will stay with me for some time to come.

I have just one tiny criticism in that I would have preferred to have footnotes, rather than a glossary at the back of the book, for ease of referral when looking up the Afrikaan and Rhodesian slang.