Sunset in the Morning

Sunset in the Morning is a tragic novel whose simplicity, rare imagery, idiom and accent carries the torch in modern Zimbabwean literature.

In the novel Ndoda, a seasoned former guerrilla fighter, is appointed to spearhead development. Initially he is a hero, but the trappings of power transform him into a ruthless dictator who brooks no criticism. And faced with drought and AIDS, he unscrupulously exploits these calamities to enrich himself, becoming a filthy rich mogul through gold panning and selling rubies and sapphires clandestinely.

Ndoda's autocratic rule is, however, fiercely opposed by David Kaseke, a local high school teacher and Rufaro, a law student. To silence them, Ndoda orders his lackey, Mandebvu, to deal with Rufaro who is stabbed twice near the heart but survives the assassination. Years later Rufaro, now a qualified attorney, is found dead in a police cell. Similarly, David is brutally tortured by the partisan police.

As the sun sets on his life, Ndoda is found dead on his expensive mahogany bed, having been haunted by the ghost of a spirit medium he had previously ordered to be killed. His benevolent will, though, raises new hope for the future.