Books

THE UNFAMOUS FIVE By Nedine Moonsamy, Modjaji Books, 2019

One could read Moonsamy’s novel as being critical of society’s expectations on individuals

One of the critical functions of literature is to open worlds that have been hidden. It has always been the task of writers to illuminate the world in ways that surprise and amuse, and that is why reading Nedine Moonsamy’s debut novel, The Unfamous Five, is such a pleasure.

The novel is set in Lenasia, an Indian township south of Soweto, and follows the lives of five friends: Janine, Kumari, Neha, Shejal and Devon. The novel takes place between 1993, right before the onset of South Africa’s democratic dispensation, and 2003. Moonsamy (BA 2006, MA 2010, PhD 2014) is particularly skilful at showing how lives are affected by history and what the consequences of violence are on children.

The five friends come from families of different classes. While Kumari comes from a well-off family that affords a certain level of safety and an opportunity to go to university after high school, other characters, like Janine, do not have such privileges. What the novel shows is class, like in other communities, is prevalent in the Indian community. Interestingly though, despite these class differences, the “Five” are able to maintain their friendship and enjoy each other’s company, showing genuine friendship can triumph over differences that often lead to divisions. Another interesting theme the novel explores is sexuality. Devon, who discovers he is gay, comes from a religious family and this leads to him having a sense of shame over his sexuality. Even though he aspires to serve the church and become a priest, this aspiration is made difficult as he is unable to reconcile his sexuality with his religion. Devon struggles with himself as the expectations of a heteronormative church restrict who he can become. One could read Moonsamy’s novel as being critical of society’s expectations on individuals. Apartheid was premised on the notion that there are pure identity categories and the novel challenges that idea as it shows the characters’ complexity. The Unfamous Five is a novel illuminating the challenges of friendship over time. Is it possible to maintain childhood friendship and if it is, what kinds of risks do these include? What do friends provide that family, and other social institutions, cannot?

One of the things that Moonsamy says she wanted to achieve with this novel was to offer a more complex representation of Indian people in South African literature and to put Lenasia on the local literary map. With this novel, she achieves that. The Unfamous Five is a much-needed intervention in the literature of post-apartheid South Africa.