MIMI's Life & Style List: Coconut, A Novel
MIMI Lifestyle
Written By: Nani Hapa
Photo Credits: Book Cover Art
Caption: "Coconut, A Novel"
.
An important rumination on youth in modern-day South Africa, Kopano
Matlwa's debut novel Coconut tells the story of two extraordinary young
women who have grown up black in white suburbs and find themselves
struggling to find their identities. ("Coconut" is a term used in various
African countries to describe people who are "black on the outside but white
on the inside.") The rich and pampered Ofilwe has taken her privileged
lifestyle for granted, and must confront her swiftly dwindling sense of culture
when her soulless world falls apart. Meanwhile, the hip and sassy Fiks is an
ambitious go-getter desperate to leave her vicious past behind for the
glossy sophistication of city life, but finds Johannesburg to be more
complicated and unforgiving than she expected. These two stories artfully
come together to illustrate the weight of history upon a new generation in
South Africa.
MIMI Lifestyle
Written By: Nani Hapa
Photo Credits: Book Cover Art
Caption: "Coconut, A Novel"
.
An important rumination on youth in modern-day South Africa, Kopano
Matlwa's debut novel Coconut tells the story of two extraordinary young
women who have grown up black in white suburbs and find themselves
struggling to find their identities. ("Coconut" is a term used in various
African countries to describe people who are "black on the outside but white
on the inside.") The rich and pampered Ofilwe has taken her privileged
lifestyle for granted, and must confront her swiftly dwindling sense of culture
when her soulless world falls apart. Meanwhile, the hip and sassy Fiks is an
ambitious go-getter desperate to leave her vicious past behind for the
glossy sophistication of city life, but finds Johannesburg to be more
complicated and unforgiving than she expected. These two stories artfully
come together to illustrate the weight of history upon a new generation in
South Africa.
