- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Virago Press Ltd (31 Mar 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1844084647
- ISBN-13: 978-1844084647
- Product Dimensions: 20 x 13.2 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 594,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam
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Review
** 'Full of memorable characters and flavoured with the intensity of childhood, this is a debut that stays with the reader long after the last page is read' WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLY 'An evocative debut ... told from the vantage point of an eight-year-old girl growing up on an isolated farm: a small world in human terms but enriched by the sights and smells of Africa' MAIL ON SUNDAY
Daily Mail
'This is an outstanding first novel.'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I found this to be a wonderful book, narrated by Nyree, an 8-year-old girl who is growing up in Rhodesia with her sister in the 1970s. We hear about the country's political unrest as seen through Nyree's eyes and her childlike understanding of it. Her story is filled with a child's innocence and faery tales about malevolent spirits, the mixture gelling to create a superbly dark tale. When the sisters' world is disturbed by the arrival of their cousin Ronin, you realise that some very bad events are going to occur because he brings with him a deep sense of gloomy foreboding. At times this book made me laugh out loud, but there are other moments of great sorrow that had me reaching for the tissues to mop my tears. I loved the way that Liebenburg gave her writing a Grimm style flavouring. For me it added to the darkness that surrounded this time in history. Overall, this was a funny, sad, poignant and haunting read and one that will stay with me for some time to come.
I have just one tiny criticism in that I would have preferred to have footnotes, rather than a glossary at the back of the book, for ease of referral when looking up the Afrikaan and Rhodesian slang.
I have just one tiny criticism in that I would have preferred to have footnotes, rather than a glossary at the back of the book, for ease of referral when looking up the Afrikaan and Rhodesian slang.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Wow! I cannot believe this is a first novel. Right from the start I was lost in this book, in fact, I felt like I was there in Rodesia. Having been told a lot by a friend who was raised in South Africa this was like a confirming re-vist.
Really well written with strong, believable characters. I felt so sorry for the girls who were left to get on with things as the adults just seemed so self preoccupied. I shared their up and downs, fears, joys along with the down right scary moments and times.
I thoroughly recommend this book it gets a 5 star from me
Really well written with strong, believable characters. I felt so sorry for the girls who were left to get on with things as the adults just seemed so self preoccupied. I shared their up and downs, fears, joys along with the down right scary moments and times.
I thoroughly recommend this book it gets a 5 star from me
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I liked this book - it drew me ever onwards to see what happened. I loved the style of writing and luckily I come from that part of the world so the slang didn't bother me. If you haven't I suggest you keep looking at the glossary at the back for explanations. One of the previous reviewers complained about the one-dimensional nature of Ronin. For me, though, it is just the way an 8 year old girl would see him - an 8 year old girl easily categorises people as evil or good. I would have liked to know more, but for me his mystery added to the tale. I just hope this writer is going to keep writing.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A charming book
This book is full of childhood memories (but not mine). It has a warmth and charm that are unigue. It talks fo Rhodesia's turblent history through Nyree's (the central... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Ms. J. K. Moore
One of my most memorable reads
For all of us who had a childhood that we wish our own children could of had, this book reminds us of those days and more. Read more
Published on 19 Mar 2010 by Mrs. S. Posthumus
Our book club
a wonderful book, bought it for a book club read, was voted the best yet, what more con I say.
Published on 18 Sep 2009 by B. Hedges
Growing up in Rhodesia
The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam
This gives an insight into life in Rhodesia in the final years before it became Zimbabwe - a friend who was brought up... Read more
This gives an insight into life in Rhodesia in the final years before it became Zimbabwe - a friend who was brought up... Read more
Published on 6 Aug 2009 by SusieH
Authentic and Atmospheric
This is an excellent, suspenseful and atmospheric book which was a big surprise to me. Although it is essentially a childhood 'memoir', narrated in the first person, it is very... Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2009 by Ms. K. Judge
Voluptuous, delightful but also very sad
This book is set just as Rhodesia is jumping out of the frying pan of Ian Smith's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, and into the fire of Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe. Read more
Published on 4 Jun 2009 by Denise4891
3.5 Stars
This was a beautiful depiction of life between Ian Smith's declaration of independance and the eviction of white farmers from their land. Read more
Published on 29 May 2009 by DubaiReader
Authentic and beautiful
I knew nothing about this book when I picked it up and I'm not usually drawn to novels where the central characters are young children. Read more
Published on 21 May 2009 by noc
Very Good
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book as I was purely reading because the title interested me initially. Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2008 by Rubbah
delight and horror
Lauren Liebenberg's debut novel made it into the Orange 2008 longlist but not the shortlist. It is a brooding, simmering, disturbing, and occasionally charming, tale of life in the... Read more
Published on 9 May 2008 by Leyla Sanai
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