The place of stunted ironwood trees

"This is an account of the lives of a small band of cattle herders, the Himba, who live in and around the settlement of Otutati in northwestern Namibia. The narrative chronicles the events of a single year, though within that year are found the events of a lifetime: birth, maturation, aging, death; generosity, meanness, accomplishment, failure.".

"The author draws the reader into a human world that appears so utterly different from our own in the first decade of the twenty-first century. However, as the leading characters' lives and personal qualities, their joys, hopes, and anxieties unfold, the exoticism of their world fades and the experience of life rings strangely familiar."--BOOK JACKET.