We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

Hi to the friends of Hive Bookclub, I want to share with you my latest read. It was We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo, although technically I didn’t “read” it as I listened to it on audio, which was a fantastic option as it allowed me to be fully immersed in the sounds of the book, especially that of the central voice/character Darling.

The book is an incredible debut novel.

The book is split into two halves – the first section is set in Zimbabwe in the early 2000s and covers events like riots and inflation that struck the nation post colonialism. Then in a very jarring tone it moves to the US where Darling starts to adapt an American accent so she can fit in.

The book explores themes of identity, trauma, and migration, receiving critical acclaim and awards like the Caine Prize and PEN/Hemingway.

The narrator, Darling, is a ten year old girl already cynical of the world, and her house has been demolished. She now lives with her friends in a shanty town they call ironically “Paradise”. The gang are always hungry and go to the rich area “Budapest” to steal guavas off the tree. Unfortunately as they are not yet ripe it causes constipation, but they are too hungry to care.

They play games, like children do, but theirs are revealing, such as the country game in which everyone wants to be America, or France or England and no-one wants to be an African country. Showing they have internalised the hierarchy of the world.

One of the children is pregnant at eleven and we later learn she was raped by her grandfather. Many of the men are absent off working in other countries. By the time Darling’s dad comes back he is already sick and dying of AIDS.

They find several dead bodies, which they treat with nonchalance, on one case taking the bodies' shoes. This is just the world they are growing up in.

However, despite all that there is real friendship and camaraderie. Zimbabwe is presented as a soulful place, bustling with activity and sensory overload. It compares starkly to the US Darling finds herself in. A place she calls “Destroyedmichygen”.

I found the second part not as compelling as the first as we have had a lot of fiction about the immigrant experience, but there are a couple of chapters that sounded like prose poetry that I enjoyed. Here Darling faces the cold reality of being an undocumented immigrant, the loss of her cultural identity, and the profound sense of alienation that comes with living in a place that is not truly "home."

Darling's journey highlights the psychological toll of immigration. She must navigate the misconceptions Americans have about Africa while simultaneously feeling disconnected from the Zimbabwe she left behind. The title itself, We Need New Names, suggests the constant reinvention required of those who move between worlds.

The final chapter is devastating, in which her friend accuses her of abandoning her home. Bulawayo masterfully illustrates that home is not just a place, but a collection of names, languages, and memories.

Overall, I found it to be a complex and multi layered book. It was humourous in places, and in others heartbreaking. I would say it is for anyone interested in contemporary African literature or the global immigrant experience.