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BOOK: Revolutionaries' House by Nthikeng Mohlele (Jacana)
Towards the end of Revolutionaries' House, there is a scene where narrator Caesar Mulaudzi opens the door to his ex-wife. He's wreathed in smoke and his birthday suit – it is such a startling image that remains imprinted in my mind. This is not the Caesar we have come to know in this novel: a non-smoker, a political man, a businessman with a chain of successful fast-food restaurants, and then a homeless man sleeping under a bridge.
How he came to be opening the door to his ex-wife is part of the narrative thread. But, equally and importantly, this is a novel of ideas and a not-so-wry look at what has become of the revolutionary ideals of a governing party. The story is set in Johannesburg, but other than that, no names are mentioned. As readers, we are left to infer who Caesar is talking about, and that's not difficult. Chapters are named after the various women he has known in his life, and their influence threads through the story, too.
