Living, Loving and Lying Awake at Night (Interlink World Fiction)

Short stories exploring the lives and circumstances of African women in South Africa, all told with insight humor and vitality, this collection is a forceful document of injustices. In the opening story, a woman leaves her mud hut--and her five young children--to flee to the misty mountains beyond her village. She had been awake at night, in despair, considering where their next meal would come from. Her move is incomprehensible--the youngest child is still nursing. Then one comment gives meaning to the whole: "To be a good mother I must leave." Her mother-in-law will take over, she hopes. It is only later that we learn, she has become hired help in a white household to earn money to support her family.

This collection of superb short stories was voted one of Africa's Best 100 Books.