Zwani's novel takes a reader closer to Kasane
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Sunday February 20, 2022 06:00
The young author has shown tremendous growth in her writing and creative skills. The content, design and cover are also top notch matching some of the renowned international novelists' standard.
This young writer is not only gifted in story writing but also her choice of words is excellent. This new novel successfully takes the reader into the storyline and has the ability to take them through the emotional roller coaster the characters are going through. It also gives them a picture of Kasane, including the wildlife and the tourism sector.
The novel on its own is captivating and gives the reader the zest to keep reading. Kasane has 272 pages and 26 chapters that are not numbered but rather titled depending on different topics and places. It has been published on Amazon where it can either be bought on Kindle or hard copy. This fiction novel’s main character is Tori who lost hope in relationship but was rescued by her best friend Mpho who was married to a loving husband. The two friends decided to go on a girls' trip to refresh but upon arriving at their destination, Mpho’s husband showed up with a colleague who Mpho tried to match make with her friend but Tori was tired of being match made.
The journey that had changed from girls trip turned to mystery from the solving of dying wild animals to a number of adventures, new opportunities, meeting new people and Tori ended up with finding love in a man she least expected to being Gabe.
This book is Zwani’s third novel after The Shrink and Hope. In an interview with Zwani, she explained that her latest book, Kasane, was set in a little town on the northeastern tip of Botswana, a home to one of the world’s largest population of elephants. She said the enchanting town was close to Africa’s Four Corner and catches the interest of the story's character Tori whom her story unfolds as she bounces between Qorokwe Camp in the Okavango and lofts located in Kasane, one of the world’s hidden wonders. “I have always wanted to live in Kasane, from the very first time I visited the place in 2018.
I just fell in love with the casual interaction between the residents and the wild animals that roamed the streets. Warthogs could pass for pets, and elephants have their own corridors. It is an amazing place, a gem.
If I could and my circumstances allowed it, I would move to Kasane at the drop of a hat,” she said. Furthermore, Zwani explained that when she first started writing, she was intrigued by the super striker’s comic and wanted to create one of her own, which is how her first novel The Shrink came to be in her head as a comic and a novel. She was then encouraged to write a book and that is how she got into writing. “I believe each book has its own target audience. Kasane seems to appeal more to tourists, travelers and adventure junkies. Hope seems to appeal more to mothers and women who have gone through depression the way Tracy has.
The Shrink appeals to the youth, adolescents, teachers and parents. So the target audience is vast. This book shows that Botswana has amazing nooks and crannies that need to be explored,” Zwani said.
Even though the book is mesmerising, some days were hard for protagonists. Zwani said amidst writing, she had writer's block even though the book was a breeze to write. Zwani added that she writes better from experience adding that Qorokwe camp was kind enough to accommodate her and her partner for three days and nights saying that was how she was able to have rich content for the book. She added that having three books under her belt has been approved by Exclusive Books to be sold in their stores not only in Botswana but also in South Africa as well as in Namibia, which was an achievement on its own. She said she wrote her books without sponsorship or financing.
She added that she got support from people and was currently sitting on 126 preorders even though her goal was 500. She is currently trying to get sponsorship for Kasane to be printed.