{"title":"AFRICAN WOMEN AUTHORS","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"kinky-roots-a-memoir","title":"Kinky Roots: A Memoir","description":"\u003cp\u003eKinky Roots: A Memoir is a 2021 Pencraft Book Award Winner for Non-Fiction. It is the memories, ruminations and vignettes of growing up in Southern Africa and moving to the UK.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten from the life, wisdom and experiences of Ingrid Arlington, 'Kinky Roots' is an uplifting, poignant and reflective journey alongside the author. From a tumultuous upbringing in Zimbabwe, where violence and sexual assault was rife - to Ingrid meeting her husband in South Africa before starting an arduous new life in the UK. It's a story that explores how identity, excuses, religion, relationships, self-worth and family heritage all ultimately lay life's crazy pathway.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUnited Kingdom - When Ingrid Arlington looks back on her life, it's been a rollercoaster defined by adversity, poor relationships with men, a move to the other side of the world - and some bold life lessons that have ultimately made Arlington a fearlessly strong woman.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Kinky Roots' invites readers to step alongside her as they rise from the ashes of loss and harassment in Zimbabwe, to a new life in the UK. No step has been without its challenges, yet Arlington steadfastly defines each as a vital part of her story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the introduction:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat day, I felt lost, aimless, purposeless. I had received a rejection from an employment agent saying I didn't get the 33rd job that I'd applied for, whilst sitting on the couch watching NCIS reruns and stuffing my face with all sorts of snacks. I felt like a black Bridget Jones - except I wasn't trying to quit smoking and I already had the man. Now, you might ask how I got myself into this unemployed situation, feeling all sorry for myself. The easy answer is that I moved from South Africa to the UK with Alex (my husband of nine years), to pursue happiness and the European dream but without a plan of how to do this. The difficult answer, I guess, starts a year after arriving.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I started re-evaluating my life when I hit unemployment rock bottom in the UK,\" explains the author. \"It was a very raw process of questioning myself and my identity, and reliving my tough upbringing in Zimbabwe - a place where my mother chose her new husband over me, and where I'd been sexually harassed by the age of fourteen. I took a long, hard look at how I'd always chosen controlling men, and felt powerless in every relationship I'd gotten into. As I unraveled things, I began to figure out who I really am.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eContinuing, \"My biggest life change was meeting my husband in South Africa, only to find him relapsing on a drug habit - fiercely challenging my Christian upbringing. After our separation, I began to mull over everything from excuses, my beliefs, biases around religion, the LGBTQ community, my emotions and how music connects it all - and the definitions I devised are now all shared in this volume\". It's going to leave people with plenty to think about.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nicole Chesworth","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43771897217200,"sku":"9781527291836","price":199.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0632\/9181\/8160\/files\/9781527291836.jpg?v=1720613205"},{"product_id":"hot-tea-and-apricots-a-memoir-of-loss-and-hope","title":"Hot Tea and Apricots: A Memoir of Loss and Hope","description":"\u003cp\u003eHow would you cope, suddenly not being able to talk, in a world that only knows how to communicate through speech? This story explores one woman's journey through this uncharted territory and her eventual victory through tenacity and faith.\u003cbr\u003eKim Ballantine’s profound and poignant description of her remarkable journey with voice loss and cancer is a humbling tribute to the resilience of the human spirit, the love of family and the faithfulness of God. Hot Tea and Apricots speaks directly to the courage center in each of us, calling us to stand in faith and trusting that God who sees what we cannot, is already lighting the path ahead even in the darkest of times. This book is for anyone of any gender, ethnicity or creed who is seeking a pathway to their own courage, through unthinkable pain, towards victory.\u003cbr\u003eAs heartbreaking, raw and painfully honest – and at times darkly humorous – as the memoir is, Hot Tea and Apricots is a triumphant story of hope and holding onto life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"Kim Ballantine","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43781683282096,"sku":"9780796122858","price":300.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0632\/9181\/8160\/files\/HotTea_Apricots.jpg?v=1721132078"},{"product_id":"juliet-prowse-born-to-dance","title":"Juliet Prowse: Born to Dance","description":"\u003cp\u003eJuliet Prowse was a young South African dancer who burst into the international spotlight in her first Hollywood movie. Considered talented and exotic, she caught the media’s attention and her engagement to Frank Sinatra fuelled their fascination further. But was it true love and what did Sinatra make of Juliet’s relationship with Elvis during G.I. Blues? Unhappy with 20th Century Fox, Juliet broke out of her contract, created her own company and became one of the highest paid dancers of her era.  \u003cbr\u003eWhile Juliet won awards for Sweet Charity in Las Vegas and London, opening on Broadway seemed to be elusive.  Juliet continued to build her world-class modern dance company, winning Female Entertainer of the Year in Las Vegas three times with competition from Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand and Shirley MacLaine. By the mid-1970s, she was on a $1 million contract as a Desert Inn Million Dollar Baby. Considered a triple threat, Juliet featured on the international stage for over four decades. \u003cbr\u003eThis story is personal. Told by Juliet’s niece, it includes Juliet’s words from letters written to her mother, family anecdotes and amusing insights from those who worked with Juliet. With her endless legs and playful charm, Juliet had many romances and married actor John McCook of The Bold and the Beautiful. But in her search for love and professional fulfilment, could she accomplish it all?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Prowse Media","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44252349333680,"sku":"9781037023422","price":300.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0632\/9181\/8160\/files\/JulietProwseBorntoDance.png?v=1741255723"},{"product_id":"peaches-and-smeets","title":"Peaches and Smeets","description":"\u003cp\u003e'A tender exploration into the beating heart of a community that endured through culture and sacrifice, with such detailed references to life in the 1960s for Indians in Johannesburg and Durban. Smita will live long in the memory of the reader. Well-recommended.' -Shubnum Khan\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrowing up in Bakerton, Springs in the 1950s and '60s, Smita (Smeets) Maharaj is puzzled by a great deal of adult behaviour. Why must her tall, handsome father be so obsequious to the police? Why must brown people sit in separate train carriages from white people? Why can't her mother see how much more important it is for her to get a good education than to learn to make the perfect roti?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCaught between the beloved traditions of India and life in a quickly modernising South Africa, between family roots in Natal and a prosperous present in the Transvaal; between the madness of apartheid and the pull of her own desires, Smita struggles to find her feet in a world beset by contradictions. As the Maharaj family expands and grows, and her mother's twin obsessions with producing a son and finding suitable boys for her daughters to marry dominate the family's discourse, Smita wrestles with satisfying her parents' wishes and following her own path as she navigates her way through school and life - and comes to terms with a long-held, painful family secret.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Modjaji Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44285195976880,"sku":"9781928215967","price":275.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0632\/9181\/8160\/files\/9781928215967.jpg?v=1742379161"},{"product_id":"asleep-awake-asleep-stories","title":"Asleep Awake Asleep: Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe thirty-nine stories in Asleep Awake Asleep can be read as a hand-drawn narrative map, charting the course of a country’s turbulent history. Together they tell a coming of age and a coming to consciousness story, as Rip – child, adult, journalist, partner, mother – revisits milestones marked and signposts ignored or unseen. Set in the suburbs and newsrooms of South African towns and cities and their wilder surrounds, there are vignettes of relationships; tales of political assassinations, murder and betrayal, and questions asked about complicity and reparation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Modjaji Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44285196402864,"sku":"9781928215783","price":240.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0632\/9181\/8160\/files\/9781928215783.jpg?v=1742379163"},{"product_id":"home-scar","title":"Home Scar","description":"\u003cp\u003eMeet Asma, the only child of the Patels. Growing up in the cloistered confines of an Indian Township in the 60s, hers is a near idyllic childhood. At 5, she’s setting out tea parties for fairies. At 12, she’s the class superstar, her future all mapped out. ‘My daughter is going to be a doctor!’ – Mr Patel. And then, the placid train to the (so bright) future gets derailed. At 17, she falls in love with Ghaarith. Leather-jacket-wearing, stove-pipe-toting boy from the wrong side of the Colour Divide. When 1976 arrives and the country goes up in flames, Asma finds herself caught between the Fires of Resistance and the duties she is bound to as the daughter of an Indian household.\u003cbr\u003e-------\u003cbr\u003eS.E Bhamjee is a talented writer, her novel will pull you right into the heart of apartheid Indian township suburbia with this important story. (Shubnum Khan)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA critical time in South Africa's history serves as the backdrop for a young woman's coming-of-age. S E Bhamjee's emotionally textural, almost tactile language transforms this bildungsroman into a dexterous characterization of a second-generation Indian female Muslim experience of trauma and healing during some of Apartheid's most tumultuous uprisings. Prepare to grow with this protagonist and experience her pains and joys most keenly. (Saaleha Idrees Bhamjee)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA moving, heartbreaking coming of age served on a bed of elegant prose. (Sumayya Lee)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Modjaji Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44285196501168,"sku":"9781991240231","price":280.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0632\/9181\/8160\/files\/9781991240231.jpg?v=1742379163"},{"product_id":"horses-and-oranges","title":"Horses and Oranges","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Bring water, bring words,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe yeast of your life -\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003elet's make a poem.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese lines from 'Treasure' capture the communal energy with which Kirsten Garbini rides into the world on the flexive and colourful back of her debut poetry collection, Horses and Oranges. This vibrant anthology is a treasure trove of quotable lines, alternately hilarious, biting, and poignant, all filled with a creative zest for life. These poems navigate the complexities and celebrate the triumphs of contemporary womanhood. She tracks both unusual and ordinary moments, offering keen observations on love, identity, and the everyday magic of existence. Throughout, the author's wit, playfulness, and warm intelligence shine through. Truly a book for Everywoman.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Modjaji Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44285199483056,"sku":"9781991240422","price":200.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0632\/9181\/8160\/files\/9781991240422.jpg?v=1742379252"},{"product_id":"payback","title":"Payback","description":"\u003cp\u003e“They said I was a victim, fallen prey to Stockholm Syndrome, under the thrall of my captor. If that’s what it took to see me released from prison early, I wasn’t going to dispute it in a court of law.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo way was Sue ever going to surrender. She went out, guns blazing, and when she did, that bitch Thabisa Tswane killed her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI stood slowly, my feet numb after kneeling for so long. I picked up a handful of soil, held it tight in my fist and closed my eyes. Gripping the dark earth that was once stained with Sue’s blood, I swore revenge.”Payback is author Priscilla Holmes’s second Thabisa Tswane thriller.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThabisa Tswane has it all: a loving and supportive husband, two beautiful children, a house in Joburg’s Northern suburbs. Sure, the handsome and mysterious Zakhele Khumalo is away from home often for a job he can’t talk about, but Thabisa understands how it works in his world. After all, it is her world, too. Recently promoted to Major at The Eagles, South Africa’s elite crime-fighting unit, she’s been asked to investigate Victor Maseko – South Africa’s wealthiest and most notorious businessman. All his attention seems focused on the construction and launch of The Maseko building, an embarrassingly opulent shrine to himself. But the people in his inner circle have a nasty habit of dying brutal deaths… And when Maseko’s wife Zibu is shot in Thabisa’s presence, Major Tswane knows she’s caught up in the middle of a web she has yet to untangle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are days when the village of Nguni Intile, famous for its intricate beadwork and home of Thabisa’s grandfather, Chief Solenkosi, seems a lifetime away. But will evil follow Thabisa all the way to her childhood home?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Modjaji Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44285200335024,"sku":"9781928433378","price":290.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0632\/9181\/8160\/files\/9781928433378.jpg?v=1742379254"},{"product_id":"la-bastarda","title":"La Bastarda","description":"\u003cp\u003eA teenage orphan’s quest of self-discovery in Equitorial Guinea, and a \"unique contribution to LGBTQ literature\" (Kirkus Reviews).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Though I live a world away from Equatorial Guinea, I saw so much of myself in Okomo: a tomboy itching to be free and to escape society’s rigged game. I cheered her on with every page, and wished—for myself and all girls—for the bravery to create our own world.” —Maggie Thrash, author of Honor Girl\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe first novel by an Equatorial Guinean woman to be translated into English, La Bastarda is the story of the orphaned teen Okomo, who lives under the watchful eye of her grandmother and dreams of finding her father. Forbidden from seeking him out, she enlists the help of other village outcasts: her gay uncle and a gang of “mysterious” girls reveling in their so-called indecency. Drawn into their illicit trysts, Okomo finds herself falling in love with their leader and rebelling against the rigid norms of Fang culture.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Modjaji Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44285202661552,"sku":"9781936932238","price":220.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0632\/9181\/8160\/files\/9781936932238.jpg?v=1742379316"},{"product_id":"between-the-apple-and-the-bite-poems-about-womens-predicaments-in-history-and-mythology","title":"Between the Apple and the Bite: Poems About Women's Predicaments in History and Mythology","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe poems in 'predicaments' explore women's responses to the constraints and consequences of choices they have made. Their responses are not much changed through the millennia of myth, history and into contemporary times. The poet reflects on significant moments in the lives of women such as Helen of Troy, Delilah and Joan of Arc, and the predicaments they are faced with in a man's world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Modjaji Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44285202694320,"sku":"9781928433231","price":200.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0632\/9181\/8160\/files\/9781928433231.jpg?v=1742379316"},{"product_id":"bloomer","title":"Bloomer","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhile the world is happier with its oldies locked away during the pandemic, the lovable and maverick elders of Hazyview Mansions, galvanised by Maggie and her friends, have their own ideas. Romance, old loves; individual, local and global issues drive the story of this consequential movement with sustained and gentle humour.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Modjaji Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44285202956464,"sku":"9781928433491","price":340.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0632\/9181\/8160\/files\/9781928433491.jpg?v=1742379317"},{"product_id":"unseen-listening-to-visually-impaired-south-africans","title":"Unseen: Listening to Visually Impaired South Africans","description":"\u003cdiv id=\"WACViewPanel_ClipboardElement\" spellcheck=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"auto\" lang=\"EN-ZA\"\u003eAfter artist Joanne Bloch experienced serious sight loss, she felt called to explore what it means to be visually impaired in our society. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"auto\" lang=\"EN-ZA\"\u003eUnseen \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"auto\" lang=\"EN-ZA\"\u003egives both her own reflections and those of 20 other South Africans, each told in the unique voice of its contributor. The conversations and stories in\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"auto\" lang=\"EN-ZA\"\u003e Unseen \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"auto\" lang=\"EN-ZA\"\u003ereveal many hidden complexities. They describe sensory and bodily adaptations, as well as the systemic barriers to basic rights that are built into our society. They show the constant need to counter ignorance and hostility and describe the social discomfort and isolation that often comes with visual impairment. Yet these are not narratives of passive victims. Instead, they are idiosyncratic, compelling expressions of courage, humour, solidarity and resilience. Most of all, they reflect a determination to live a rich and fulfilling life despite every difficulty. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-ccp-props='{\"201341983\":0,\"335551550\":6,\"335551620\":6,\"335559737\":260,\"335559739\":0,\"335559740\":240}'\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"auto\" lang=\"EN-ZA\"\u003eIn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"auto\" lang=\"EN-ZA\"\u003eUnseen\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"auto\" lang=\"EN-ZA\"\u003e, Joanne Bloch offers a deeply personal and illuminating exploration of visual impairment in South Africa. Drawing from her own experience of sight loss and conversations with twenty other visually impaired individuals, Bloch weaves together a tapestry of diverse voices and experiences. This groundbreaking work challenges common misconceptions about blindness and partial sight, revealing the complex realities faced by those living with visual impairments. From navigating daily life and relationships to confronting societal barriers and discrimination, Bloch's narrative brings attention to an often-overlooked community.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-ccp-props='{\"201341983\":0,\"335551550\":6,\"335551620\":6,\"335559737\":260,\"335559739\":0,\"335559740\":240}'\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"auto\" lang=\"EN-ZA\"\u003eUnseen\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-contrast=\"auto\" lang=\"EN-ZA\"\u003e is not just about loss and struggle; it's a testament to resilience, adaptation, and the human spirit. Through intimate portraits and thoughtful analysis, Bloch invites readers to reconsider their understanding of sight, disability, and what it means to truly perceive one another in a world that often disregards the visually impaired. This book is an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the diverse experiences of disability and the power of human connection.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-ccp-props='{\"201341983\":0,\"335551550\":6,\"335551620\":6,\"335559737\":260,\"335559739\":0,\"335559740\":240}'\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Modjaji Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44348398272688,"sku":"9781991240279","price":330.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0632\/9181\/8160\/files\/UnseenCover.jpg?v=1744207895"},{"product_id":"days-come-go","title":"Days Come \u0026 Go","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe fates of the three women in this novel span––and inevitably intertwine with––the history of Cameroon, from pre-colonial and colonial times through the independence movements to the contemporary terror of Boko Haram.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the dusk of her life, Anna is cared for by her daughter, Abi––a reversal of roles that draws mother and daughter closer and opens a window into their lives. Opening with the memories of the dying protagonist\u003cstrong\u003e,\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eDays Come and Go\u003c\/em\u003e is the exciting story of three Cameroonian women from three generations: a young Anna who, allured by Western education, finds herself in the midst of a conflict between modernity and tradition; Abi, the journalist, whose liberating idyll with a married artist plunges her tepid family life into turmoil; and Tina, Anna’s young neighbour in Douala, who falls into the clutches of Islamists. The fates of the women in this novel span––and inevitably intertwine with––the history of Cameroon, from pre-colonial and colonial times through the independence movements to the contemporary terror of Boko Haram.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Modjaji Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44681068085424,"sku":"9781733752695","price":340.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0632\/9181\/8160\/files\/Days-Come-and-Go_Final-cover.jpg?v=1755173401"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.mzansibooks.co.za\/collections\/local-women-authors.oembed","provider":"Mzansi Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}