69 Jerusalem Street

by Lindiwe Nkutha

In her sparkling debut collection of short stories, Lindiwe Nkutha takes us through the minds of people you may overlook on an ordinary day: the wayward neighbour you vaguely remember seeing every day as a child until the day he vanished. The face you see every weekend at the local drinking hole, you exchange a polite nod but know little about, not even her name. The young woman who is caught between her faith and her love for a woman. Their lives are untidy, tainted with the pain, joy and violence as they share with us stories they wouldn’t share with anyone else. Nkutha’s words weave in and around the weights we drag behind us from one place to another, with a sensitivity and wit required for such vulnerabilities and intimate moments.

200 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2020

Reviews

[Tiah]

My mini-feature for the Sunday Times: http://bit.ly/312ElgB

~I lost both my legs to hunger.~

~...she was addressed as 'Our Lady of Mercy Who Shed Her Clothes Because She Felt Pity'. She had earned the name for her tendency to take unworthy men to bed because she felt sorry for them.~

~She postponed her attempt at prayer to attend to the more pressing mission of condemning said fly to a not-so-gentle death. Having gotten murder out of the way, she returned to the business of prayer.~

~This week couldn't have been shittier even if Satan had designed it with the sole intention of torturing me.~

~All that remained was the hope that both the man and woman she had been would finally find a comfortable resting place in the shoes of her choosing.~

~...so consumed were they by the notion of a love child that they did not even question that I had to be conceived three times before I finally conceded to being born.~

~One of my father's most pressing determinations was to give me the one thing that he himself never had: a [family] tree with all its branches intact. That wasn't until his familiarity with broken branches stirred in him a violent desire to chop up, as if for firewood, the very tree that he had once diligently laboured at keeping whole.~

~...melodies played out of tune were the best ploy to detract people from their real pain. At least then they could focus on how annoying my appalling singing was and forget, even if for a second, the real reason for their anger.~

[Luthando · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding book that’s brilliantly written. The author is a skilled storyteller who was able to highlight the beautiful complexities of black, township life in South Africa. I found the characters in many of the short stories to be multidimensional and sincere and the writing to be crisp and clear. An absolute delight to have read! I would highly recommend this book.

[Maniki_021 · Rating 2 out of 5]

boring.