Product details
- ISBN 9781035900824
- Weight: 240g
- Dimensions: 128 x 196mm
- Publication Date: 01 Feb 2024
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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Set in rural South Africa, Hill of Fools tells the classic tale of forbidden love and tragedy as two rival families fight over ancient feuds.
Although arranged to marry one of the most powerful men in her village, Zuziwe finds herself falling deeply in love with a young warrior across the river, Bhuqa. A leading fighter in his own village, Bhuqa is caught between his love for Zuziwe and the long-standing grudge that their families have inherited – a rivalry so old that no one remembers how it began.
As peace negotiations between the two tribes crumble, Zuziwe and Bhuqa's hopes for a future together fall further and further away while violence threatens to ruin everything they hold dear.
Hill of Fools is a heartfelt portrayal of tribalism in South Africa, rich with Xhosa idioms and age-old traditions. R.L. Peteni weaves together an unforgettable tale of two lovers doomed by past prejudice.
R. L. Peteni was a writer and professor born in 1915 in the Qoboqobo district, Eastern Cape province, South Africa.
He studied English and Social Anthropology at the University of Fort Hare and taught in schools across Heilbron and Transvaal. He served as president of the Cape African Teachers' Union from 1965 to 1976, during which he returned to the University of Fort Hare to lecture English.
His debut novel, Hill of Fools (1976) was the first novel to be published in English by a Xhosa speaker and the first South African regional novel in English by a Black writer. He later translated the book into Xhosa as Kwazidenge (1980) before becoming Chancellor of the University of Transkei in 1989. Peteni died in 2000.
