<P>This book investigates themes of exile and oppression in Southern Africa across Bessie Head's novels and short fiction.<BR><BR>An exile herself, arriving in Botswana as a South African refugee, Bessie Head's fiction serves as an important example of African exile literature. This book argues that Head's characters are driven to exile as a result of their socio- political ambivalence while still in South Africa, and that this sense of discomfort follows them to their new lives. Investigating themes of trauma and identity politics across colonial and post- colonial contexts, this book also addresses the important theme of black- on- black prejudice and hostility which is often overlooked in studies of Head's work.<BR><BR>Covering Head's shorter fiction as well as her major novels <I>When Rain Clouds Gather </I>(1969), <I>Maru </I>(1971), <I>A Question of Power </I>(1973), <I>Serowe: Village of the Rain Wind </I>(1981), and <I>A Bewitched Crossroads: An African Saga </I>(1984), this book will be of interest to researchers of African literature and postcolonial history. </P>