WHERE THE HEART IS

“Where The Heart Is offers a nuanced view of one family’s struggle to negotiate cold Britannia as they face dicey neighbourhoods, sketchy liaisons, and perennial ill-fate. Chatora’s diaspora is not the glorified El Dorado; it is an honest place of grit and survival. A stellar contribution.”\n– Tariro Ndoro, Author Agringada: Like a Gringa, Like a Foreigner\nFor migrant Fari Mupawaenda, life cannot be complete without quitting the back breaking struggle for survival in the UK and returning to the laid-back streets of a warm Harare… but does it make sense for him to want to return to the periphery once more? The man who returns, why does he return? To what does he return?
His wife, a zealous cosmopolitan, the daughter, a conflicted bed-hopping undergraduate, and the son, a budding homosexual, will not follow Fari in his trip to what they see as the back of beyond. They have decided to invest fully where they are.
Fari’s reverse trip is a story about the human body, a tight memory test and a duel between geography and anticipation…
Masterful in style and form, the narratives in Andrew Chatora’s Where the Heart Is are intensely provocative.
-Memory Chirere- University of Zimbabwe\nWhat others say about this book:
Masterful in style and form, the narratives in Andrew Chatora’s Where the Heart Is are intensely provocative.
-Memory Chirere, University of Zimbabwe\nWhere the Heart Is, is a compelling story told against the backdrop of Brexit era Britain, where it is becoming increasingly difficult to live as an immigrant.
- (This is Africa)\nA masterful exploration of what living in post-Brexit Britain is like through the perspectives of immigrants. Offers unvarnished insights.
-Stan Onai Mushava – Author, Poet\nThrough an expertly woven tour de force, criss-crossing the streets of Harare, London, and Bangkok, Chatora’s characters seamlessly forge their own stories and identities in a poignant, immersive way which will enthral you.
-Gift Mheta, Durban University, South Africa\nBeautifully written and evocative, Where the Heart Is shines an illuminating light into diverse migrant experiences as they struggle to forge ties and make sense of their lived experiences.
-Malvern Mukudu, Author, Rhodes University, South Africa\nWhere the Heart Is offers an unforgettable tableau of the struggles so endured by many immigrants.
-Tichaona Chinzowu, Westminster University, UK\nAbout the Author:
Andrew Chatora writes novels and short stories and hails from Zimbabwe. He received an MA in Media, Culture and Communication from UCL. His writing explores multifarious themes of belonging, identity politics, citizenship and nationhood issues. Where the Heart Is, is his second novel following his highly successful debut novella: Diaspora Dreams. Andrew is principally interested in the global politics of inequality which he interrogates through his writing. When he is not writing, he is working on his PhD thesis on Digital Piracy, with Birmingham City University’s School of Media and English