Drawing on firsthand experience, distinguished South African writer Lauretta Ngcobo depicts the lives of rural women in South Africa, paying homage to the extraordinary courage and remarkable endurance of these unsung heroines of the struggle against apartheid. Set in the barren Sabelweini Valley in the 1950s to 1980s, the novel centers around one young woman, Jezile, whose political consciousness deepens as state laws threaten her earnings and her land. Arrested along with hundreds of others and sentenced to six months hard labor in prison, Jezile returns home to find her child dying of starvation. When her husband is arrested for stealing milk to save the child, Jezile must fight to ensure her family's survival.

Dramatises the heroism of Jezile, a young rural woman. Her story also depicts the emergence of collective resistance by rural women in South Africa of the 1950s and 60s. This is a story of redemption in the strength and vitality of one woman who will not allow intense suffering to deplete her humanity.