In this sequel to his earlier novel, author Benjamin Sibanda takes the characters introduced in When Freedom Came, Godknows Kuzvida and Bill Chiipe, further into independence and into their more mature selves.
After being freed from remand prison following his incarceration for suspected fraud, Godknows Kuzvida comes home to find he hasno wife, no company, no job and no home. Three years later, having spent his time living with Virginia, his erstwhile partner’s former ‘girlfriend’, he finds himself having to go and find Bill, in order to tell him that he and Virginia have fallen in love; because that is the kind of person he is. Meanwhile Bill, whose business has grown by leaps and bounds, now lives in Kambanji, an affluent suburb North of Harare, in a veritable mansion, with lawyer girlfriend, Susan Banga.
The interaction between Godknows and Bill, their respective women and others around them is the story which examines certain issues in Zimbabwe’s recent history. Issues like corruption, government policy and its effects on ordinary people, investment (or lack thereof), and our attitudes to it.
But it also looks at social attitudes to issues like child abuse, marriage (and sex), wealth and its creation, among many others. It is also about human relationships and love – of money and of each other.