Chanda's Secrets

Chanda's Secrets (2004) by Canadian author and playwright Allan Stratton is a critically acclaimed novel for young adults. It follows a mother and daughter living in southern Africa during the AIDS epidemic. It was adapted to the screen in 2008 as the film Live, Above All.

Its themes include the importance of family, stigma, and widespread injustice. The novel was praised for its unsentimental and nongraphic portrayal of a plague. It is told in the first person through the protagonist’s vantage point.

Chanda Kabele, a sixteen-year-old South African is waiting in the office of Bateman’s Eternal Light funeral home. Every day, she worries that she or her loved ones will be infected with HIV. Nearly every week, someone in her relatively small town of Bonang dies from full-blown AIDS. Her father recently died, and she is tasked with arranging his burial. As she talks to the owner of the funeral home, Mr. Bateman, it’s clear that she doesn’t want to admit that her father passed from AIDS.



Multiple funerals happen each day. No one in Bonang wants to admit the true reason for each death—AIDS. Instead, they talk about the poor individual succumbing to the flu, TB, or some mysterious form of cancer.

Her best friend, Esther, has also been severely impacted by the disease: both of her parents died from AIDS. With no parental supervision, Esther spends most of her time working for her aunt or uncle or modeling for tourists in front of major attractions so that the visitors can have “authentic” photographs.

Chanda’s younger sister, Sarah, and her mother are acting strangely; secretly, Chanda wonders if they have contracted HIV. Her mother’s new husband, Chanda’s stepfather, Jonah, becomes an alcoholic and leaves the family.



Her nightmares about HIV and possible death through AIDS continue to haunt her dreams. (HIV is the virus that leads to AIDS; technically, AIDS is what kills humans). Chanda tries to stay focused on her studies; she dreams of winning a scholarship to university.

Then her baby sister dies. Her mother won’t admit that the child died from AIDS. There is too much shame around the illness. Instead, she tells the middle children—Soly and Iris—that their young sister is on a journey and will return someday. But Chanda suspects otherwise.

Esther, meanwhile, is desperate for money. She starts working as a prostitute. Chanda is extremely worried about her because in that line of work, the chance of catching HIV dramatically increases.



Chanda’s mother’s great fatigue can no longer be ignored. She agrees to go to the doctor. The doctor says that she has several illnesses, but he does not mention AIDS. Chanda’s mother visits a witch doctor. The witch doctor, Mrs. Gulubane, claims that she has a demonic figure trapped inside of her body. To release the demon, she must return to her birthplace, the town of Tiro. Chanda’s mother agrees to make the journey, despite her general fatigue.

While Mama is gone, Esther is attacked by several men and left in a ditch, severely bruised and bleeding. Chanda brings her home to heal; she ignores the objections of a neighbor, Mrs. Tala, who says that Esther’s wicked reputation will bring disgrace to their name.

While Esther recovers, Chanda’s mother returns home. From her puffy appearance, Chanda recognizes that she has AIDS and will die soon. Mrs. Tala has a sudden change of heart: she admits that her own son committed suicide after he was diagnosed with AIDS. She is tired of people with the illness feeling disowned. Mrs. Tala encourages Chanda to comfort her mother and ignore the neighbors who judge them.



Chanda gives her mother a heartfelt goodbye. Her mother passes at home in the same hour that she arrived.

In the epilogue, Chanda talks about dealing with life in the days after her mother’s death. She’s surprised that the whole town of Bonang has gathered up enough funds to pay for the funeral. Everyone also knows the true cause of death: AIDS, and finally, everyone can talk about it without shame. One by one, they approach her with stories of their own loved ones dying because of AIDS.

With the greater awareness that AIDS affects everyone in their community, the stigma about getting tested is lowered. Chanda, her remaining family, and friends, all get tested. They are all negative for HIV, except for Esther.



After crying about this HIV diagnosis, Esther seeks out what help is available to her through a community center. She signs up for anti-retroviral drugs through an international charity organization; she would receive help faster if she lived in the West.

Esther and Chanda meet Banyana Kaone, “the AIDS Lady,” that the local papers had been profiling and mocking. Contrary to her public image of some odd, old lady eager to give everyone a condom, Banyana is exceedingly kind and knowledgeable. Chanda is reminded of her mother; she recommits herself to fighting the strong injustice around AIDS infection: she will fight against the shame and imposed silence around the illness, working to make everyone whose lives have been touched by AIDS to feel human again.