Home Scar
S E Bhamjee
Modjaji Publishers
Review: Karen Watkins
This moving, coming-of-age debut novel is an intimate journey through the formative years of Asma Patel, an only child growing up in an Indian township in Durban during Apartheid.
The story begins with what appears to be an idyllic childhood but Bhamjee soon disrupts this illusion.
Asma’s parents are absorbed in their failing marriage and blind to their daughter’s suffering. This leaves Asma feeling isolated, vulnerable and confused until she makes friends with Rabia.
Bhamjee skilfully reveals the detail of what her abusers do to the child as told through Asma’s eyes.
As she matures, the stark consequences of family neglect and social pressures lead to her experiencing emotional scars until she meets Ghaarith, a young man of mixed race.
They become embroiled in a forbidden romance that brings joy and solace mixed with secrecy, mystery and turmoil into her life.
Their relationship, deemed illicit under the 1960s Immorality Act, is a powerful testament to the strength of love despite Apartheid’s strict racial divides. We have to commend the girl’s spunk.
The story captures the beauty and heartbreak of their connection while hinting at Ghaarith’s political activism, adding complexity to Asma’s journey.
With its tangled threads of politics, abuse, bullying, racial prejudice and inter-generational trauma, Bhamjee cleverly blends local dialect, haunting imagery, resilience and survival against the backdrop of family dysfunction and cultural resistances within Indian-Muslim communities.
This haunting story of love, loss and the hard-won pursuit of self-acceptance is a must-read for anyone who enjoys literary excellence. It’s a story not to be missed and one that stayed with me long after the last page.
Bhamjee is a full-time chef and restaurateur who owns and bakes for Upscaled Café, Lazeeza’s Bakery and Origami Asian Food.