Woman of the Ashes

Press Quotes

‘From the myths that swirled around Ngungunyane (and still do), Couto conjures what he has described as the “many and small stories” out of which history is made, offering a profound meditation on war, the fragility of empire, and the ways in which language shapes us.’ —New York Times

‘Woman of the Ashes is a beautiful and grotesque force interweaving history with myth. Couto’s prose carries the weight of a creation story in nearly every passage.’ —World Literature Today

‘In their exploration of myth, dreams, power, and fear, Couto’s books draw from the tradition of storytelling across Africa. In the use he makes of stories—about dreams and superstitions, spiders and stones that talk—Couto has created a work of rare originality and imagination. Read it and remember.’ —The Economist

‘Mia Couto has combined brilliant folkloric prose with extensive historical research to write a novel on the colonial history of Mozambique at the end of the nineteenth century. Woman of the Ashes exposes the nature and impact of colonial power in Mozambique. It is one of the best historical novels published in 2018. You will learn more from Woman of the Ashes than from several scholarly books on Portuguese colonialism in Mozambique.’ —Washington Book Review

‘In this excellent book, Couto feathers history with folklore; while readers with some knowledge of Mozambican history will get the most out of the novel, this is still a fascinating, intricating story.’ —Publishers Weekly

‘A rich historical tale thick with allegory and imagery that recalls Márquez and Achebe’ —Kirkus Reviews

‘Couto’s mastery lies in his ability to turn his exploration of this slice of history into a commentary on all of human civilization. Richly translated by Brookshaw in words that suggest more than they say, Couto’s tale evokes a sense of timelessness, especially in the world seen through Imani’s eyes. An intriguing combination of folklore, history, and magic realism, and the first in a trilogy, this is a novel to be read and reread, savored and analyzed.’ —Booklist Online

‘While Couto treats his characters to a world of blazing specificity, Imani—in Woman of the Ashes—is also a vessel for our more contemporary battles.’ —Vanity Fair

‘With its blend of history and mythology, Woman of the Ashes proves an original, occasionally perplexing but always intriguing work of fiction.’
Sunday Times

‘In Woman of the Ashes, Mia Couto has given us a work that is epic in scale yet maintains a humane focus on the individual tragedies of those caught up in the sweep of history.’
New Internationalist

‘With riveting prose and thorough research, Couto paints the village as a doomed magical space where blind people can see and sighted people are blind, where dreams about the dead guide the living, where fish fall from the sky and the earth spits up weapons. There is not one dull moment. Although sometimes too enmeshed in fables, this is also where the novel’s strength lies: in completely enchanting us.’
The Guardian

‘An exquisite, multi-layered novel.’
The Literary Supplement