BOOK REVIEW

BOOK REVIEW

A book fuelled with love, lust and deceit

“Novel reveals pain of marriage built on deceit”

Book Title: The Things We Do

Author: Zonwabele Zola Blackie Tshayana

Published By: Self Published Yoliswa Sobuwa

It is about a young married couple, Sipho Mankomo and Zimbini. Sipho is a successful lawyer and business guru but unfortunately there is nothing successful about his marriage, which is full of lies and greed.

The book flows from the first chapter and as all the secrets unfold it keeps one in suspense, which is why I read the 134 pages in just one day.

In his eight years of marriage to Zimbini, Sipho had fathered three boys with one of his mistresses. He secretly blamed his philandering ways on his wife for not being able to bear children.

However, things had gone south since that day as Sipho finds himself deep in the mud. He had to pay for his mistress Xoliswa – also employed in his company as his PA – to relocate to another town as he discovered that he had impregnated her.

He asks his best friend to drive her overnight not knowing that the same best friend has been sleeping with his wife. Later, he discovers that the boys he has with one of his many mistresses are not his but that the father is a close relative of his. He also discovers that the wife he thought was innocent was not so innocent as she had her own skeletons.

The book tells the story of broken families, prosperity, sex and greed. It leaves one emotional and happy at the same time as you read about how the two wormed themselves out of a deceitful marriage as they try starting on a clean slate. The question is, are they going to deal with all the skeletons in the cupboard?

The book is well written but could have done with an editor as there are a few errors and missing words. It has sold over 800 copies since it was published in December last year.