In the 1970s crucible of post-colonial Rhodesia, two young lives ignite a love that breaks every taboo of their divided world. Under threat from the militant black independence movement, whites fear losing their comfortable lifestyles, while blacks struggle for a piece of the action.
Against this turbulent backdrop Paul, the white privileged son of a right-wing farmer, and Chipiwa, the daughter of black farm labourers, find solace and belonging in each other’s arms, risking all for a sliver of happiness across the colour bar.
Their paths are brutally wrenched apart by the escalating bush war. Paul is bound by family and country and enlists in the Rhodesian Defence Force; Chipiwa is forced to navigate a society that denies her agency and worth and joins the rebel independence movement.
The lovers become enemies in a war that will pit loyalty against love, history against hope, until the riveting showdown.
CHIPIWA’S CRY bears witness to love’s fragility amid the harrowing choices of war and the divisions carved by race, privilege and betrayal.