Critic Reviews
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Based on 11 reviews on
Darling is only ten years old, and yet she must navigate a fragile and violent world. In Zimbabwe, Darling and her friends steal guavas, try to get the baby out of young Chipo's belly, and grasp at memories of Before. Before their homes were destroyed by paramilitary policemen, before the school closed, before the fathers left for dangerous jobs abroad.
But Darling has a chance to escape: she has an aunt in America. She travels to this new land in search of America's famous abundance only to find that her options as an immigrant are perilously few. NoViolet Bulawayo's debut calls to mind the great storytellers of displacement and arrival who have come before her -- from Junot Diaz to Zadie Smith to J.M. Coetzee -- while she tells a vivid, raw story all her own.
"Original, witty, and devastating." --People
NoViolet recently earned her MFA at Cornell University, where her work has been recognized with a Truman Capote Fellowship. She will be attending Stanford in the fall as a Wallace Stegner Fellow for 2012-2014. NoViolet was born and raised in Zimbabwe.
Carolina De Robertis is an author.
So excited to learn of NoViolet Bulawayo's new novel, GLORY. Her first book WE NEED NEW NAMES is phenomenal. https://t.co/PK1eWcnHRP
World-class theatre made in Nottingham.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Playful staging... smart dramatisation” (The Guardian) Based on the novel by NoViolet Bulawayo, We Need New Names is a defiant coming of age story, full of exuberance, humour and humanity. 📅Fri 9 - Sat 10 Jun 🎟️https://t.co/5ukyMtyk1u @NPtheatre @FifthWord https://t.co/HvPRqQTmlB
Award-winning touring theatre company specialising in new writing. https://t.co/3gCAhln9YM
The final stop on our UK tour after a great time at @crucibletheatre is @NottmPlayhouse! LAST CHANCE for #WeNeedNewNames, NoViolet Bulawayo's coming-of-age story full of exuberance, humour & humanity. 9-10th June https://t.co/IbXaots3Hj ★★★★ @guardian ★★★★ @TheStage https://t.co/qba3Sf8nIw
Winner of the 2014 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for First Fiction
Shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize
Winner of the 2014 Zora Neale Hurston/ Richard Wright Legacy Award for fiction
Winner of the 2013 Etisalat Prize for Literature
Finalist for the 2013 Guardian First Book Award
One of the New York Times Notable Books of the Year for 2013
One of National Public Radio's Great Reads of 2013
"Bulawayo mixes imagination and reality, combining an intuitive attention to detail with startling, visceral imagery ... This book is a provocative, haunting debut from an author to watch." - Elle