Love

by Nthikeng Mohlele

236 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 17, 2026

About the author

Nthikeng Mohlele was partly raised in Limpopo and Tembisa Township, and attended the University of the Witwatersrand, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Art, Publishing Studies and African Literature. He is the author of four critically acclaimed novels: The Scent of Bliss (2008), Small Things (2013), Rusty Bell (2014) and Pleasure (2016). Pleasure won the 2016 University of Johannesburg Main Prize for South African Writing in English as well as the 2017 K. Sello Duiker Memorial Prize at the South African Literary Awards. It has also been longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. Michael K is Mohlele’s fifth novel.

Reviews

[Molebatsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The novel follows Sebastian Salt, a man whose life has been defined—and frequently derailed—by his proximity to various women and his own internal contradictions. Set in a "hauntingly familiar" Johannesburg, the story traces Sebastian’s history through a series of radical shifts: he is a man of many names, a chef with a hidden past, and eventually, a worker in a private prison.
​The narrative explores whether human salvation is found in divine faith, in overcoming one's "lesser self," or in the fleeting ecstasy of romantic connection.