The Pride of Noonlay
Shanice Ndlovu
The stories in The Pride of Noonlay are crackling, lyrical, and controlled, and the worlds Ndlovu conjures are fascinating and vivid.
R240.00
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The Pride of Noonlay
The stories in The Pride of Noonlay are crackling, lyrical, and controlled, and the worlds Ndlovu conjures are fascinating and vivid. This collection is a fresh contribution to African fantasy. Take a deep dive into stories of love, sacrifice, and loss – with this collection, you won’t want to come up for air. Ndlovu’s voice is original, confident, and lyrically beautiful, weaving tales of humanity even in the strangest of circumstances.
Shanice Ndlovu is a twenty-five-year-old Zimbabwean writer. Over the past seven years she has written numerous short stories in the genre of epic fantasy. Ndlovu was educated in part in Zimbabwe, and completed a law degree with the University of South Africa.
A longtime admirer of poetry, Shanice also started and runs a poetry podcast called the Poedcast. Ndlovu has previously published short stories in local anthologies such as Botsotso and the K&L prize. The Pride of Noonlay is her debut collection of short stories.
She currently lives in Johannesburg and spends most of her spare time at the Johannesburg City Library where she is a longtime member of their bookclub.
“This is a tour de force of African fantasy. […] [T]his collection of short stories does something magical in the way it crafts a whole new world rooted in the familiar. Ndlovu manages to transport the reader away from stark reality to a place of magic and spells that play just out of the reader’s eyeline. The stories merge in a way that makes your heart skip with a feeling of déjà vu. Reading this book left me feeling like I had been here before, in a dream or a memory of a past life. The characters stay with you long after reading; you’ll start to recognise them on the street, they’ll linger at the corner of your eye or, if you’re like me, you might just find them in yourself.” Xabiso Vili, The Sunday Times
“Bittersweet sorcery, dark fates … set in an intricately imagined realm, these stories cast a sensuous spell. I was gladly magicked.” – Henrietta Rose-Innes
“Ndlovu’s carefully crafted universe ushers in an engrossing fantastic journey. As the medley of charming characters stake their claim at a bigger, more adventurous life, they reach deep into all our secret yearnings and searing tragedies. Ndlovu skilfully intertwines her characters’ quests across the various stories, making the Pride of Noonlay an even more rewarding read in this regard, and this admirable debut will leave you waiting for more.” – Nedine Moonsamy
“…what I love about the stories is that Shanice has built up an entire world with a well-realised lore so that you get a sense of place. Sometimes I feel with many short story anthologies, especially if they’re SFF, the stories in one collection all generally feel different…” – Nerine Dorman, multiple published SA speculative writer
“This is a gorgeous literary collection of African fantasy short stories. They fall into the genre of dark fiction, in that they are not quiet horror, but do have disturbing themes and do not always end happily. Yet, like the most beautiful songs of sorrow, this collection sings. It is beautiful in its haunting prose and is one of my favourite reads of the year.” Tiah Beautement
