Grace Zulu clawed her way out of her village and into college to study law in the capital Lusaka. Now, at the end of 1990 and with AIDS running rampant, her first big case will test her personally and professionally: She must defend dancer Willbess 鈥淏essy鈥� Mulenga, who is accused of 鈥渃ommitting acts against the order of nature.鈥�
Iris Mwanza鈥檚 debut novel, 鈥淭he Lions' Den,鈥� is as zealous, smart and fresh as its main character.
But, while Grace is a talented and hardworking lawyer, she鈥檚 also hot-headed and naive. She can鈥檛 see the forest for the trees beyond her own righteousness, and wouldn鈥檛 know diplomacy if it smacked her in the face 鈥� something that makes the character and the novel verge into frustrating and tiresome.
Fortunately, we have characters like Grace's wise and eclectic landlady, Ms. Njavwa, who was a freedom fighter in Zambia鈥檚 struggle for independence. Ms. Njavwa and Grace鈥檚 discussions over dinner are punctuated by interruptions from her aptly named dogs David and Goliath, who eat better than Grace did in her home village growing up.
Food becomes a refrain in the novel, one of the many ways we see disparity in Zambia and between the characters, whether because they're rural, gay, female, foreign, poor or some other 鈥渙ther.鈥�
Yet the heavy topics come with bits of levity, which are sorely needed, especially when everything seems to be going wrong for Grace. Sometimes she only has herself to blame, but there's no denying the odds are severely stacked against her in conservative Christian, early-1990s Zambia, when political unrest and government corruption festered after nearly 30 years of increasing authoritarianism under the . Grace must learn to work with people and navigate the system that has become riddled with bribes and favors if she has any hope of helping Bessy and holding police to account.
Alongside the history and politics embedded throughout the novel, religion also plays a huge role in the story, as the title implies. 鈥淭he Lions' Den鈥� opens with the Biblical passage in which Daniel notes that he hasn鈥檛 done God nor the king any wrongs.
Grace's ally and mentor, Father Sebastian, provides one type of religious view of the issues. The Christian colonialism dictating the law and societal opinions of and women provide another. And Grace challenges all of it.
Then, in the final stretch, we finally get into courtroom drama mode; the culmination of Grace鈥檚 efforts that could have far-reaching effects beyond Bessy and his family.
On her , Mwanza 鈥� who herself has worked as a lawyer in Zambia 鈥� says her goal was "to write a page-turner that doesn鈥檛 shy away from big societal issues." She's off to a great start. Her writing is well-versed and skilled beyond what you'd expect in a debut. While the pacing didn鈥檛 hit quite right for me, the characters and subject matter are compelling enough to push through any snags. Particularly with the novel's timely release as Pride month comes to a close, 鈥淭he Lions' Den鈥� is an important story told with nuance that makes it excellent for book clubs and sparking thoughtful discussion.
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AP book reviews:
Donna Edwards, The Associated Press
