Invisible Earthquake: a woman’s journal through stillbirth by Malika Ndlovu, Undisciplined Heart by Jane Katjavivi and Hester se Brood by Hester van der Walt
In 2009 we published our first non-fiction titles, each of them fascinating and a pleasure to publish.
Invisible Earthquake a woman’s journal through stillbirth by Malika Ndlovu.
Undisciplined Heart by Jane Katjavivi
Hester se Brood by Hester van der Walt
Jane Katjavivi’s memoir is a more traditional one in approach. She’s had a rich and varied life, including being a publisher and bookseller, and for a time she lived in Brussels where her husband was ambassador to the Benelux countries and the EU. Since independence she has mostly lived in Windhoek, Namibia.
Hester se Brood is an unusual book – and was not taken on by commercial publishers as it doesn’t fit easily into a genre. It combines recipes for making bread as well as a reflection on the social history and meaning of bread. The book is also about her long lesbian relationship with her life partner, Lies Hoogendoorn who did delightful pencil and ink drawings in the book. The recipes are delicious, and Hester’s writing is beautiful. A few years later we also brought the book out in English translation as Hester’s Book of Bread.
In spite of being a slim volume, Invisible Earthquake has had a huge impact. In South Africa Malika has become a spokesperson for women who have experienced stillbirth. She was invited to London to be part of the launch of a special issue of Lancet focused on stillbirth. Sue Fawcus, who was the Head of Mowbray Maternity Hospital at the time said, “among some South Africans, [stillbirth] is not recognised as an “event”, and that the health system needs to develop better mechanisms for caring for women during their bereavement and acknowledging their grief, which is otherwise forced to be a silent grief.” Malika was one of the first to document her own experience and to offer it up as comfort to the millions of other women in the world who have experienced stillbirth. It is time for a new edition to come out.