I Am She (It's a Man's World #3) by Swit La Pound
The third book in the It's a Man's World Series by Swit La Pound, can be read as a standalone. It is the story of Vuyiswa, a good girl who is determined to study hard at school and is respectful to her loving and hard-working mother. They don't have a lot, but Vuysi can turn her head away from the temptations and cat-calls of her wealthier classmates who have made unwise choices in order to get the material possessions they desire.
'Who am I?' Vuyiswa asks in the first scenes, as she stares with horror at the blood on her hands. It is an astounding opening to a story written in a searing, powerful prose.
We read on to discover how the seemingly innocent offer of a lift home changes the course of Vuyiswa's life. Gradually she is seduced into an alluring world of riches, designer clothes and men with honey tongues, who make her feel special and turn her off the righteous path she had been so determined to take.
This is a desperately sad story about a young, decent woman who has her morals and good nature stripped away. This story is almost Shakespearean in its trajectory as we watch Vuyiswa make bad choice after bad choice until she cannot see the dark path she has taken, and she becomes as bad as the women she previously sought so hard to avoid.
It is a tale of women all over Africa and beyond, who at the end of the day only want a better life for themselves, but time and again they fall prey to men who use them for their own selfish purposes. It is only at the last moment, when it is too late, when Vuyiswa realises what a terrible person she has become.
This isn't the spoiler, as we see her right at the start of the book with blood on her hands. We know something horrible has happened, and she bitterly blames herself, but the how and why gradually unfolds to a sadly inevitable conclusion.
However, in the final moments, Vuyiswa discovers who she really is. It is a redemption of sorts. Even though her life is ruined, she finds some kind of peace with herself, even though that peace is tinged red with the blood of regret.
Swit La Pound writes with compassion yet an unflinching purpose to tell the real story of how life is for some of these women, and how they find themselves making the choices they make. She doesn't sugar-coat it. Anger at a real-life situation shines through the pages of this fiction novel. I think the point is it could happen to anyone, even though they go through their lives with purpose to keep to the good side. Sometimes, temptation can strike, and it can come with a soft voice and gentle promise. No one is immune, and we all forget that at our peril.
BLURB
WHAT happens, when you lose yourself and become the monster you loath? Inflicting harm on your own self, wreaking havoc and destruction, that only turns and bites you? Until there is nothing and no one to blame, but yourself, staring at your reflection with hatred and scorn?
Yet another piece addressing abuse of Women and children from a different vantage point. Vuyiswa, a proud, cultured African, Xhosa woman, finds herself in a condrum, with the blood of her mother wailing at her hands, after losing herself at the hands of love, men, money and life itself. Only to realize, a tragedy too late, that she knew herself not, any longer. Find out is she regains her pride and identity in the 3rd book of the "its a men's world series. Experience the culture, drama, suspense, murder, revenge, and, above all, the hope and healing of a broken woman. #bepartofthechange #stopabuseofwomenandchildren #Iamshe