Changes

It's 1983, and the Second Chimurenga - or Rhodesian Bush War, depending on your point of view - is over. Robert Mugabe has just taken power and Robert's father is optimistic about the fledgling country now colonialism is at an end. His schoolmates, however, have an entirely different point of view. Initially friendly with one of the few black boys at the school and a social misfit, Robert soon discovers the horrors of bullying and the relentless power of peer pressure. From there, his school career begins a sharp decline as, in desperate self-protection and a need to belong, he finds himself outwardly aligned with attitudes and behaviours he knows are wrong.

It's beautifully written and richly evocative. Robert's loneliness is palpable. The sense of doom and danger are all-pervading and the tension of it all gives you a gnawing feeling in the pit of your stomach. And yet it's not entirely without hope. The characters are all fully-rounded and you can feel sympathy with them all, even Ivan, who is the book's axis of conflict. There are some wonderful cameos too - I particularly enjoyed Weekend, the school's telephone operator, who eventually shows us the true meaning of human kindness.