The House of Hunger
R200.00
Marechera made an immediate impact with the publication of The House of Hunger. The novella and nine short stories, most of them set in Zimbabwe, symbolise both home and country as the ‘house of hunger’, the place of madness and violence and despair. Marechera describes a world in which tenderness has long given way to the tactics of survival, and he does so in a style at once explosive and loaded with angry humour.
Author(s): Dambudzo Marechera
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Meet the Mafus, a close-knit, traditional family with three daughters. As leaders of their church, The Kingdom of God, Pastor Abraham and his wife Phumla are guiding the community of Bulawayo in faith, while trying to keep the different branches of their family intact.
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Author(s): Chinua Achebe
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Author: Ayobami Adebayo
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I’m still trying to kick and free myself, though. Screaming for help is not an option. Men don’t scream for help. They fight to the death with their teeth clenched and voice held in their throat. I fight until I can’t move my legs anymore and I know that this is it, I’m dying tonight. I’ve always wanted to take my own life, die on my terms, in my own time. But it’s clear now that I’ll never get what I want in this life. I never have been able to. I feel my mind separating from my body and I know it’s over. I Stop. For the first time in my life, I stop fighting before I win. I’m dead. It’s happening for real this time and I don’t have my brothers to stop me.
Author: Dudu Busani-Dube
Childhood friends, Liwa Nile and Noel Glass grow up in Port Alfred bound by hope and pure love for each other. But their deep dark desires bring in sinister trails of lust, murder and unclassified sexual escapades to the heart of Melrose Arch.
When Liwa loses her beloved father, hear dear friend Noel comes to the rescue. As they grow their architecture business, it emerges that Noel is no ordinary painter. Her love for darkness quickly turns Liwa’s wet bed into a nightmare.
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Tyson Manson seeks sexual pleasure. So when a love affair boils over, he discovers more than expected. As he digs deeper into their past, more worms fill in the missing pieces. Will his findings destroy the bondages of a long-standing friendship?
Behind the close doors of their suburban Johannesburg home, Themba and Ayanda Hlatshwayo, both legal professionals, are beset by deep tensions that draw with relentless intensity at the polished facade of their lives. Ayanda seeks solace in dance classes, while Themba is increasingly drawn to the male companionship he finds at a book club.
With wit and sympathy, The God who made mistakes explores the origins of Themba’s unease and confused sense of identuty. It takes us back to a river bank in Alex, the township where he grew up, and to a boy he once knew who met a violent death there. As the story peels back the painful layers of recollection, Themba’s domineering mother, Differentia, has a major decision to make. When developers set their sight on buying family home and building a supermarket in its place, tendrils of envy and greed begin to curl out of unexpected quarters, as the unscrupulous seek to grab a share of the spoils. Back yard tenant, Tinyike, with her her shorts and questionable morality, and Themba’s disgraced, unemployed elder brother, Bongani, begin to plot a scheme, while across tow Themba’s fragile marriage faces its biggest challenge. When his past walks unexpectedly into his present, it threatens to blow apart his carefully constructed world.
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Author: Ekow Duker
A family struggle to make ends meet in the township and to better themselves. The book deals with the desire to give up, but also answers it’s own question with an affirmation of what things make life worthwhile.
Author(s): EM Damane
He is speaking in a hushed tone, as if this is a forbidden subject. ‘He said there were twins here, boys. He said their father died on the day they were born.’ He stops and squints as if trying to remember something. ‘I’m not sure if I’m getting the story right, but there were other twins before, but they all died. The father must have done something because these two lived, only them, and then he died. They were good children, that’s what my father said, but then one day they must have been 14 years old…’ He stops when he hears a gasp.
‘What happened? What did they do?’ Qhawe asks. ‘They killed a priest. He was one of those that were recruiting people o join a church, and most people here believed him and followed him. He built a school and stuff. The twins went to that school. But he must have made them very angry because…’ ‘How did they kill him?’-Mqhele
The man shrugs before he speaks. ‘From what I was told, they slit his throat and left him sitting on a chair, bleeding to death.’ There’s silence. The man is telling the story like its an urban legend, but they know, it is a familiar one. ‘Is that what you wanted to know?’ the man asks, looking at Sisekelo. He doesn’t answer. ‘So, what happened to the twins’ mother?’ Qhawe asks. The man sighs deeply. ‘They burnt her alive.’
Author: Dudu Busani-Dube
A collection of short stories, in the detail of their varied backgrounds, range in location from rural Transkei and township life in the Cape to central New York. They have in common also, as before, the authors’ perceptive and vivid creation of memorable characters, whether hilarious or tragic.
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Author: Ekow Duker
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