The Tea Merchant
Jackie Phamotse
Penguin Random House
Review: Karen Watkins
With its gloriously glossy cover, Jackie Phamotse weaves a tapestry of historical fiction through the origins of rooibos tea.
The story begins in Cape Town in 2005 when Luna, a young Khoisan nursing graduate, meets nurse Amora, who is Xhosa. They are waiting for a job interview at a Bellville clinic. Later that evening there is a murder in which both nurses are complicit. They get the jobs but three years later something else happens and they hurriedly leave town to work in a clinic in Clanwilliam.
On the evening of their arrival, there is a veld fire. Providing support, Luna meets Captain Cameron Coal who is on leave from the Navy and is rarely home. He has left his blind teenage daughter, Mia, in the care of his alcoholic father, John, who is struggling with the grief of losing his wife, Emily, who, along with Coal’s wife, Summer, had perished in a fire at their farm 10 years earlier.
Through vivid characterisations, Phamotse delves into issues of community dynamics and the intricacies of parenthood, particularly highlighting the challenges faced by men in modern parenthood. Other themes include community life, loss, grief, inheritance, landlessness, racial dynamics, heritage and belonging.
While Phamotse’s story is richly textured and well-researched, it sometimes stumbles in racial dynamics and is implausible and naive. Despite these minor shortcomings, her style, storytelling and pace draws the reader in.
This two-part story marks a departure for Phamotse, known for the BARE series for which she was awarded the African Icon Literary Award in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2018 for The Blesser’s Game. The release of The Tea Merchant signals her return to the public eye after she was sentenced to two years of house arrest with a fine and unpaid community service in her defamation case involving Basetsana Kumalo.
