South African Fiction

It is December 1878, and war looms on the horizon in South Africa. British high commissioner Sir Henry Bartle-Frere seeks to dismantle the powerful neighboring kingdom of the Zulus and uses an incursion along the disputed border as his justification for war. He issues an impossible ultimatum to the Zulu king, Cetshwayo, demanding he disband his armies and pay massive reparations. With a heavy heart, the king prepares his nation for war against their former allies.

In Holler, Child’s eleven brilliant stories, LaToya Watkins presses at the bruises of guilt, love, and circumstance. Each story introduces us to a character irrevocably shaped by place and reaching toward something—hope, reconciliation, freedom. In “Cutting Horse,” the appearance of a horse in a man’s suburban backyard places a former horse breeder in trouble with the police. In “Holler, Child,” a mother is forced into an impossible position when her son gets in a kind of trouble she knows too well from the other side.

An Essence best-selling author, Rochelle Alers also boasts a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and Zora Neale Hurston Award. Sweet Southern Nights continues the Eaton family saga, which finds Dr. Levi Eaton far from his Northern roots, volunteering at a Kentucky clinic. There he meets Angela Chase, whose sultry Southern hospitality is just what the doctor ordered. But as their relationship deepens, Angela worries Levi may discover the secrets she’s been hiding.

This is the moving story of the unforgettable Rosa Burger, a young woman from South Africa cast in the mold of a revolutionary tradition. Rosa tries to uphold her heritage handed on by martyred parents while still carving out a sense of self. Although it is wholly of today, Burger's Daughter can be compared to those 19th century Russian classics that make a certain time and place come alive, and yet stand as universal celebrations of the human spirit. Nadine Gordimer, winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, was born and lives in South Africa.

From the author of the beloved Hum If You Don't Know the Words comes a rich, unforgettable story of three unique women in post-Apartheid South Africa who are brought together in their darkest time and discover the ways that love can transcend the strictest of boundaries.

Botswana, 1976: Isaac Muthethe thinks he is dead. Smuggled across the border from South Africa in a hearse, he awakens covered in dust, staring at blue sky and the face of White Dog. Far from dead, he is, for the first time, in a country without apartheid. A medical student in South Africa, he was forced to flee after witnessing a friend murdered by white members of the South African Defense Force.

With the same unforgettable and distinctive prose on display in his other books, Airtight Willie & Me is further evidence that Iceberg Slim was an expert at capturing the language of the streets. Always compelling, sometimes funny, and often bleak, Slim gives us six slices of city life that will leave you thirsting for more.

Bad habits feel better than the pains of love and commitment to Imani. Maybe she’s just not the relationship type.Imani Jones bit off more than she could chew. After meeting Vincent, she found herself caught up in her feelings, something that she never let happen. What’s worse, the commitment-phobe in Imani led her to run for the hills when their one-night stand produced a pregnancy. After finding herself alone, again, Imani delves back into the bad habits that got her into all kinds of trouble in the first place. These habits could possible cause her to lose her daughter, Zion. Vincent...

Lorielle Starting over wasn’t supposed to be easy. After losing Daddy and escaping a home that felt more like a prison, I landed in Shreveport, Louisiana, with nothing but my bags and a prayer. Love? That wasn’t on my agenda—not with my heart so guarded. Then I met Mike Preston. A soldier back in Louisiana, trying to figure out who he is without the Army. With hazel eyes that see through my walls and a smile that feels like a promise, he’s everything I didn’t think I could have. But letting him in feels like a risk—what if he leaves? Mike isn’t the kind to run. He’s patient,...

“A trim yet potent tale…” – Kirkus Reviews Advance praise for Carra Roe’s debut Ain’t No Sunshine: “Roe’s moving, character-driven book is compelling, well written, and decorated throughout with authentic Southern Creole vernacular, which creates a distinctively unique tone and atmosphere…spirited, captivating characters to behold…charming anecdotes and humorous country-folk foibles…an impressive work…” – Kirkus Reviews "I absolutely adore your writing style and your expert use of dialogue...You left me wanting more but in a good way. Great job." -Cortney ...

For years, it was called a "deteriorating situation." Now it is war. All over South Africa, mobs of fugitive white people scramble to board departing flights. But Bam and Maureen Smales have no such option. They take up their servant July's suggestion and seek refuge in his remote home village, forever altering the relationship of servant and master. Now it is the Smales who are dependent on their host, their savior - their keeper. Nadine Gordimer is the winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Cows wandering on roads are an everyday hazard in rural South Africa. They appear suddenly, and their movements are unpredictable. Hitting them can have dire consequences. Dodging Cows is one man's journey from carefree childhood to lazy student to conscripted soldier to passionate farmer, buffeted by the fault lines in South Africa’s history. Gritty and uncompromisingly authentic, this thought provoking novel stirs all the emotions. Part One Follow the adventures of a young boy, Luke Ayres growing up on a farm in southern Natal barely aware of a country divided along racial lines. Part ...

In this powerful, edgy, and funny debut novel about making right and wrong choices, Bump gives us an unforgettable and lovable protagonist, Claude McKay Love. Claude is a young black man in search of a place where he can fit; born on the South Side of Chicago, he is raised by his civil rights-era grandmother, who tries to shape him into a principled actor for change. After a riot consumes his neighborhood, Claude decides to escape Chicago for another place, to go to college, to find a new life and identity. But he discovers, there's no escaping the people and places that made him.

Back in the days when things were cool... Joseph “Joe Doe” Henry was a young man on the right path with big dreams. He was raised to always get his own, and that hard work always paid off. But when he meets Ramona, a girl that he wants to give the world, he knows that his little side hustle won’t be enough to afford her the life he feels she deserves. With his friends Beast, Ratchet, and Twin sharing his mentality, one fateful night set them up for a successful life. But with success comes envy and drama. Joe Doe soon finds out who really has his back, and who can’t be trusted. ...

Journey into the heart of South Sudan’s Nuer tribe with The Individual: The First Societal Unit, a captivating tale that weaves the rich fabric of African culture with the universal quest for identity and belonging. In this evocative narrative, follow Panyim, a young Nuer man standing at the threshold of adulthood, as he navigates the sacred rites and communal responsibilities that will define his place within his tribe. With each line etched on his forehead during the Gär ceremony, Panyim’s personal journey becomes deeply entwined with the collective destiny of his people. Guided by ...

The year is 1994, and South Africa is in political turmoil as its first democratic election looms. Against a backdrop of apartheid and racial violence, traumatized artist Yolanda Petersen returns from the Appalachian foothills to the land of her youth at the behest of her mother. While there Yolanda longs to reconnect with her estranged daughter, Ingrid, the product of an illegal mixed-race affair with a white man. But Ingrid is missing, and as Yolanda quickly discovers, she isn’t the only woman in Cape Town desperate to protect her own.

It’s 2008 and the height of Zimbabwe’s economic demise. A group of passengers is huddled in a Toyota Quantum about to embark on a treacherous expedition to the City of Gold. Amongst them is Gugulethu, who is hoping to be reconciled with her mother; Dumisani, an ambitious young man who believes he will strike it rich; Chamunorwa and Chenai, twins running from their troubled past; and Portia and Nkosi, a mother and son desperate to be reunited with a husband and father they see once a year.

Actor and sex worker Nats is experienced at putting on a show. However, her new gig supplying intimate whispers for growgirls takes her to a place darker and lonelier than she could have ever imagined. The lab-grown dolls can respond to pleasure or pain; their synthetic heads contain only the simplest AI to prevent any pesky robo sex doll uprisings. But just because growgirls don’t have a brain, doesn’t mean they don’t have a voice...

Following on from his bestselling novels A Year in the Wild and Back to the Bush, James Hendry returns to the setting of Sasekile Private Game Reserve for another tale that takes the listener behind the scenes with the MacNaughton brothers, Angus and Hugh. It is four and a half years since Angus’s last year in the wild when he was newly appointed to the position of head ranger at Sasekile. Much has happened in the interim.

A northern white couple has relocated to the South to operate a vineyard on a North Carolina plantation. There, they pass their idle hours listening to the stories of one Uncle Julius, who has a deep knowledge of the land. These stories, however, are more than mere entertainments. They all have their time and place, and they offer not only a quiet commentary on the events of the day but also a deeper reckoning with the plantation’s disturbing past.