Glory- Book Review

Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo is a timeless, humorous historical fiction that tells the story of a country driven to ruins and despair by a dictatorship regime, and the toppling of a dictator by its tenacious citizens. It was first published on March 8, 2022, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2022.

NoViolet is the Zimbabwean author who debuted with We Need New Names in 2013, which was an extension of her Caine Prize-winning short story, Hitting Budapest, and was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2013. She was the first African woman to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize and has now appeared twice on the list.

The book is similar to Animal Farm by George Orwell in addressing the themes of political oppression and resulting revolutions through satire. Narrated by anthropomorphic animals, Glory is an allegory that chronicles the chaos and pain under the leadership of Zimbabwe’s tyrannical founding fathers yet serves as a mirror for other despotic governments and the havoc they wreak.

The book brought back pleasant memories of reading Wizard of the Crow by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. They both comically utilize hyperbole to portray the unpleasant truths about some post-colonial African governments characterized by corruption, greed, and entitlement. They both highlight the devices used by such governments to establish themselves in the minds of the citizens as absolute powers and the same with the country, the country not being able to exist without the “leader.”

Like cabernet is to red meat, Dipo Faloyin’s Africa is not a Country and Glory are complementary reads, as having understood the context that is the colonization of Africa and its impact portrayed in the former, then one can proceed to effectively observe post-independent Zimbabwe, in the latter.

Akin to the Israelites grumbling that they had a better life in Egypt while on their journey to Canaan, a bleak moment sees some citizens of Jidada (the fictionalized country in the book) express a preference for the colonialists, believing that life had been more bearable under them. But a critical mass believed and dared to imagine otherwise and orchestrated a revolt demanding change.

Although innocent lives are lost, Glory ends on a hopeful note, demonstrating the potential of citizens’ united voices against leadership that does not serve them. It is indeed a reminder that the glory of tyranny only lasts as long as its victims allow it.