Sheridan Griswold
IF YOU CAN WALK, YOU CAN DANCE by Marion Molteno (Shola Books)
Marion Molteno’s first novel in 1993, AShield of Coolest Air, is a captivating story about Somali refugees in London. Her second novel, whose title is taken from a Zimbabwean saying, won the 1999 Commonwealth Africa Writers’ award. In it she excels in the arena of music and human relations. Molteno is of South African origin and has lived in Zambia before moving to England.
The novel is an ode to music and its healing powers. It shows that anyone can make music and move -themselves, their life, and others. It is told in the first person by Jennie, a young woman from the Free State, with a gentle and perceptive voice. At university in Cape Town in the late 1960s, her relationship with a student organiser leads her into exile, an uncomfortable marriage and years of waiting.
In Swaziland, she embraces the people’s music, both songs and the mbira-playing of an old man. This is the beginning of her transformation.
Jennie finally returns to South Africa to see her family and share their struggles. It is here the tale comes full circle as she meets people from her past and learns to hold and comfort those dear and close.
If You Can Walk, You Can Dance is an exciting novel that should not be missed. Its only drawback is that readers must hear the music in their heads, as no other aural experience is provided.