When Rain Clouds Gather

The AWS Classics is a brand-new Heinemann series which offers a selection of the best-known works of African literature originally published in the African Writes Series. With new introductions written for each title in the series, these classic novels are a must-read for anyone interested in African Literature.

In the heart of rural Botswana, the poverty-stricken village of Golema Mmidi is a haven to exiles from far and wide. A South African political refugee and Englishman join forces to revolutionize the villager’s traditional farming methods, but their task is fraught with hazards as the pressure of tradition, opposition from the local chief and unrelenting climate threaten to divide the fragile community.

Bessie Head was one of the best-known writers in Africa, whose works were mostly inspired by her own traumatic life experiences as an outcast in Apartheid South African society. This edition of When Rain Clouds Gather includes an introduction by Stephen Gray, former Head of English at the University of Johannesburg.