The great author Frederick Buechner once said, “… the only books worth reading are books written in blood.” One such book is Sue Nyathi’s much acclaimed second novel titled The Gold Diggers.
In this novel, Nyathi narrates the painful and sometimes torturous journey which many Zimbabwean immigrants go through in their bid to attain economic wealth in South Africa’s richest city, Johannesburg.
The story is a familiar one. It is a story of hardships and suffering faced by many immigrants from across the African continent as they fight for their piece of gold in the City of Gold.
However, what resonates with Buechner’s sentiment in The Gold Diggers storyline is the manner in which Nyathi, a Zimbabwean native, narrates how lives are ruined and lost in the process of fleeing Zimbabwe.
Nyathi captures the reader’s imagination from the first chapter, as she takes you to the streets of Bulawayo, where the story starts with multiple characters fleeing their land of birth to take refuge in the shinny streets of Johannesburg. Not giving away much, Nyathi with the right authority and authenticity, touches on numerous themes that emerge as different characters battle it out to attain economic freedom in Joburg.
Drug trafficking, identity theft, xenophobia, child trafficking, adultery are but some of the themes that emerge from the journey of each character. Readers will go through an emotional rollercoaster perusing through the pages. I found myself shedding a tear after a horrendous act meted on baby Zipho by drug lord Kayin.
This book is very informative in understanding the struggles which many illegal immigrants suffer through in South Africa while trying to make a better life for themselves. The Gold Diggers does leave the reader with a sense of compassion for every foreigner in the country.
The chapters are also nice and short keeping the reader’s attention intact throughout. Readers might, however, find themselves remember the storyline more than they remember the whole characters. Nyathi has assembled a lot of characters and I found myself struggling to remember all of them upon finishing.
The cover and the title does a serious injustice to the book. It gives the impression that it is another book ridiculing women’s economic quests. However, despite all that, I believe the novel will go down as one of the best classic novels, which depict the lives of illegal Zimbabwean immigrants in South Africa.