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The Zulus of New York

By (author) Zakes Mda

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Zakes Mdaâ€™s glorious new novel draws on the true history of â€˜Fariniâ€™s Friendly Zulusâ€™, men who were taken to Britain and then to America as performing curiosities. The novel opens in 1885 with the hero, Em-Pee, in wintry New York, contemplating with distaste the melodramatic â€˜savageâ€™ performance of â€˜The Wild Zuluâ€™, in stark contrast to his own true history, so little understood here: â€˜His Zulu colleagues call him Mpi, which has become Em-Pee to the English-speakers.â€™ His true name is not the only loss in this far, foreign country, and he is seen as little more than a freak show act â€“ though at least he is not kept in a cage like the beautiful Dinka Princess, with her gold-painted papier-mÃ¢chÃ© crown, and a patchwork cape of mink, otter and kodiak fur. For Em-Pee, it is love at first sight, though she is not free to love anyone back: she is the property of Monsieur Duval, proprietor of Duval Ethnological Expositions. And so begins one of Zakes Mdaâ€™s most striking stories, a short novel but one that packs a powerful punch and will stir up strong feeling in its depiction of terrible real injustices and indignities, while at the same time also celebrating the vigour and ingenuity of the creative spirit, and the transformative power of love.