By Bruce Ndlovu
More than death itself, the late Yvonne Vera feared leaving behind an unfinished book.
This was revealed by the author’s mother and author of the late writer, Erica Gwetai, on the 13th anniversary of her death. Vera passed away on 7 April in 2004, thousands of miles away from her mother while she was in Canada. She had earlier been diagnosed with meningitis.
“In her final moments as death approached, she would call me and say that she was scared of dying and leaving behind an unfinished book. She would say ‘mum, I don’t fear death but I fear leaving behind an unfinished book,’” said Gwetai.
Gwetai said as her condition got worse, the author was wracked with worry, as it suddenly dawned on her that death might arrive before she had put to bed what would be her last book.
“The title of the book was Obedience and she was really passionate about it. It was really sad when she couldn’t get a chance to finish it,” she said.
Gwetai also revealed that she had been fiercely resistant to the release of the book in the wake of her daughter’s death.
“I didn’t want it to be released to the public because it was poorly edited. So a few people like her late friend Terence Ranger had the manuscript but only people with academic interests can study and analyse it,” she said.
According to Gwetai, the book would never see the light of day because it was largely incomplete.
“I will never allow it to be published. It was unfinished and because she was such a perfectionist it would have been a disservice to let anyone else finish it. No one would have finished it like she would have and I feel that if anyone else touches it, that might taint her legacy,” she said. The Sunday Mail
