Setting is a vital element of A Girl Named Disaster—at least as important as character or plot. The general setting is the border country of Mozambique and Zimbabwe in 1981. Both countries had recently won independence from colonial rule: Mozambique freed itself from Portugal in 1975, and Zimbabwe overthrew English domination in 1979. These were not peaceful transitions. Echoes of the recent violence occur in Nhamo's story in passing conversations, the presence of freedom fighters and land mines, and the hostility between the Shona and the Matabele tribes and between native Africans and white settlers. In 1981 both countries are a study in contrasts. In more urban areas European influence has changed tribal life through the introduction of Western technology, institutions, religions, and ideas. Although no scenes take place in cities, the reader, like Nhamo, learns of the wonders of civilization through her grandmother's reminiscences, Portuguese traders, the staff of...