Futhi Ntshingila Bücher

Winner of the Sharjah Int’l Book Fair Best International Fiction Award 2022 Hans van Rooyen is a former police general raised by two women who survived the 1899 South African War. He finds himself being cared for in an old age home by the daughter of liberation struggle activists. At age 80, he carries with him the memories of crimes he committed as an officer under the apartheid government. Having eluded the public confessions at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for his time in the Border Wars, he retained his position in the democratic South Africa, serving as an institutional memory for a new generation of police recruits. Zoe Zondi is tasked to care for the old man. Her gentle and compassionate nature prompts Hans to review his decision to go to the grave with all his secrets. Zoe has her own life story to tell and, as their unlikely bond deepens, strengthened by the isolation that COVID-19 lockdown brings, they provide a safe space for each other to say the things that are often left unsaid. They Got To You Too is just the right fiction for our troubled time. It is an ode to the power of storytelling to gently peel away the scars of old wounds and provide some sort of relief, catharsis, and healing.

Life wasn't always this hard for fourteen-year-old Mvelo, who lives with her mother, Zola in the shacks on the margins of Mkhumbane township. There were good times when they lived with Sipho, Zola's lawyer boyfriend. But when the beautiful and mysterious Nonceba Hlathi arrives, Zola has to make a choice. She also has her pride. Now their social grants have been discontinued: the one for Mvelo being underage reared by a 31-year-old single mother, and the other for Zola because of her status. And there is also an elephant growing in their shack as the terrible thing that happened that night in the revival tent remains unspoken. In her second novel, Futhi Ntshingila once again introduces us to a cast of strong women who have little, but are determined to shape their own destinies.

The terrible thing that steals 14-year-old Mvelo's song leads to startling revelations and a hopeful outcome. Great book club read.