The Heaven Shop

The Heaven Shop is a novel by Canadian author Deborah Ellis about HIV/AIDS orphans. The story is set in Malawi, (although the most of the characters names are not originally Malawian) and the novel was written to dispel myths about HIV/AIDS and celebrate the courage of child sufferers in Malawi.^[1] It was published by Fitzhenry and Whiteside in 2004.

Royalties from The Heaven Shop were donated to UNICEF.^[2]

Plot

The plot of "The Heaven Shop" centers around 13 year old Binti, a girl from Malawi with above-average socio-economic status for the country.Binti's mother had died from AIDS about 6 years ago. Binti's father owns a coffin shop called The Heaven Shop, hence the title of the book. Binti is a star on a radio show called "Gogo's Family" and helps support the family with the money she earns through her work on the show.

Binti's father, Bambo, is infected with AIDS and contracts pneumonia due to his suppressed auto-immune system. After Bambo dies, Binti and her siblings are placed in the care of her less wealthy relatives, who take all of their belongings and force them to move to their homes. The rest of the novel focuses on the hardships the siblings have to go through, and the effect one AIDS-related death can have on a family.

In the end, their Gogo died. The family of children will have to survive together, but it's a new start for all of them.

Characters from "The Heaven Shop"

• Binti, the main character, a 13 year old Malawian girl.
• Junie, Binti's sister. She is very bossy at the beginning of the book. She is the eldest child at 16.
• Kwasi, Binti and Junie's brother. He wants to be an artist and loves drawing and painting birds. He is 14.
• Bambo, Binti, Junie, and Kwasi's father. He owns Heaven Shop Coffins.
• Mr. Tsaka, Bambo's business rival in selling coffins. He drives Bambo to the public hospital when Bambo contracts pneumonia.
• Uncle Mloza, Bambo's brother. He takes Kwasi to Monkey Bay when Bambo dies of AIDS.
• Uncle Wysom, Bambo's brother. He takes Junie and Binti to Lilongwe when Bambo dies. He owns a small restaurant in Lilongwe.
• Aunt Agnes, Wysom's wife. She treats Binti and Junie like slaves.
• Mary, Wysom and Agnes' daughter.
• Gogo, Bambo, Wysom, and Mloza's mother. (Binti, Junie and Kwasi's grandmother.)
• Jeremiah, Gogo's friend, a peer counselor who tells people about AIDS.
• Memory, Binti, Junie, and Kwasi's insolent, rude, younger cousin.
• Beauty, Memory's baby daughter.
• Mr Wajiru, Director of Binti's radio show, "Gogo's Family".
• Noel, Junie's boyfriend that she was supposed to marry at the beginning of the book.Then dumped because the risk of HIV when they have child and they will all be HIV positive.
• Gracie, Binti, Junie and Kwasi's bubbly younger cousin, Machozie's best friend and possibly sister
• Machozie, Binti, Junie and Kwasi's cheerful younger cousin, Gracie's best friend or sister

References