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Zimbabwe native Yvonne Vera has carved a considerable reputation based on several books -- "Butterfly Burning," "Under the Tongue" -- delineating the social conditions under which blacks were forced to live. Her writing style is quirky -- very rhythmic, with lots of jumps between characters' voices and no particular allegiance to present or past tenses.

And this woman knows how to tell stories. Vera understands, as some poets and songwriters do, that image can be more moving than specificity. "The Stone Virgins" tells the story of sisters living in Bulawayo (the author's hometown), whose lives are altered by civil war and by the aftermath of that war. There's plenty of violence, a few truly erotic -- though not graphic -- love scenes, and the kind of narrative power that very few authors are able to achieve.

Vera's not for readers who want their fiction simple to read and comfortable to mentally digest. With that in mind, if you're willing to give "The Stone Virgins" a try, afterward Yvonne Vera is likely to be counted among your very favorite authors.

Copyright © 2003 Detroit Free Press Inc.

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