# Maru

by Bessie Head, Botswana, 1971

Read worldwide for her wisdom, authenticity, and skillful prose, South African born Bessie Head (1937-1986) offers a moving and magical tale of an orphaned girl, Margaret Cadmore, who goes to teach in a remote village in Botswana where her own people are kept as slaves. Her presence polarizes a community that does not see her people as human, and condemns her to the lonely life of an outcast. In the love story and intrigue that follows Head brilliantly combines a portrait of loneliness with a rich affirmation of the mystery and spirituality of life. The core of this otherworldly, rhapsodic work is a plot about racial injustice and prejudice with a lesson in how traditional intolerance may render whole sections of a society untouchable.

ISBN: 9780435907181

## See also

- [Bessie Head](https://africantales.net/authors/bessie-head)
- [More from Botswana](https://africantales.net/countries/BWA)
- [Classic](https://africantales.net/genres/classic)
- [The 1970s](https://africantales.net/decades/1970s)

Source: https://africantales.net/books/maru