TRAPPED

309pp., paperback, First SA Edition, Modjaji Books, Cape Town, 2025

ISBN:9781991240453

First published in Zimbabwe in 2020.

Unesu, is a doctor who's work exposes him to the deficiencies in the healthcare system. Cashleen, a trained journalist, and Delta, a qualified chemical engineer, are both forced to make compromises in order to find a job that will help them pay the bills. 

“Trapped … is a powerful, illuminating portrayal of lives unravelling against the collapse of Zimbabwe’s healthcare system.” Pettinah Gappah, Guardian

“Valerie Tagwira is a writer with her ear to the ground. Her novel Trapped captures the hope, frustration, and despair of young graduates who cannot find work.”   Isabella Matambanadzo, Zimbabwean feminist activist and writer

Valerie Tagwira is a Zimbabwean writer who is a specialist obstetrician-gynaecologist by profession. She currently lives and works in Windhoek, Namibia. Her first novel, The Uncertainty of Hope (2006), won the National Arts Merit Award for Outstanding Fiction in 2008.