The Hairdresser of Harare is Tendai Huchu’s debut novel. It is the story of an impoverished, single mother’s determination to survive in contemporary Zimbabwe.
Vimbai gets pregnant as a teenager and is abandoned soon after the birth of her daughter. She works hard to become the most favored hairstylist at Mrs. Khumalo’s salon in Harare. Despite a steady income and a house inherited from her late brother, Vimbai struggles with hyperinflation and food shortage. She confronts an unexpected challenge when Mrs. Khumalo hires a young and handsome hairdresser. Dumisani becomes the model employee and the most sought-after hairstylist at the salon. With her position under threat and a young child to raise, Vimbai decides to win over Dumisani. In a remarkable reversal, the foes become friends and jealousy turns into affection. Dumi rents a room from Vimbai. Soon, the two are running their salon and attracting wealthy and powerful clients.
Dumi invites Vimbai to a family wedding and introduces her as his girlfriend. His parents welcome Vimbai with warmth and affection as she has ‘cured’ their son. Soon Vimbai learns that Dumi is gay. Shocked, furious, and humiliated, she is overcome with an impulse to seek revenge. The fascinating story of love and betrayal ends as a tragedy. It transforms Vimbai’s understanding of the world around her.
The Hairdresser of Harare is set against the turbulent political, economic, and social landscape of the Mugabe regime. It examines a culture that grapples with after-effects of colonization. It depicts the high rate of unemployment, rampant corruption, and food shortage that beleaguers a resource-rich Zimbabwe. It reveals the deep gulf that exists between the affluent and the impoverished. The reader understands the desperation of a frustrated working class, which struggles to find a respectable place in a globalized world. Minorities remain closeted due to rabid homophobia and prejudices. The sad reality is that the key to a hairdresser’s success is to have the client feel ‘like a white woman’ as she exits the salon.
