Shards

<p><em>Shards </em>is an allegorical amorphous soliloquy about two pivotal days in the life of a troubled young woman from a middle-class Zimbabwe family. The rhapsodic story follows the protagonist as she experiences a profound existential crisis precipitated by an ancestral calling she has long refused to accept and grows increasingly disillusioned and alienated. It is set against the backdrop of a country beset by sociopolitical troubles and grappling with unfulfilled hopes in the dregs of the colonial era. </p><p><br></p><p>Cynthia Marangwanda's background as a spoken word artist is evident throughout her writing as she deftly explores African spirituality and how it clashes with the dictates of modernity. </p><p><br></p><p><em>Shards </em>is the first novella by Marangwanda. It was well-received in her native Zimbabwe earning her a National Arts Merit Award for debut published work in 2015. </p><p><br></p>