Mozela publishes Forgive God
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Sunday October 8, 2023 06:00
The book was published by Poeticblood Publishers on September 14, 2023. It has a total of 12 chapters and 133 pages. The book targets teenagers to adult readers.
Mozela explained that through her book, she explores deeper the common lesson that God is the one who forgives in order to find more what the expression means for human beings to forgive God. She pointed out that Forgive God explores the unsettling environment created by fathers who abandon their children.
“There are no clear-cut reasons why fathers leave their children. Each circumstance is different but the results are the same. Your heart breaks twice; first when one walks out of the door and secondly, 10 years later when you look around for the umpteenth time and he still has not found his way back home,” she explained.
Furthermore, it explores the indoctrination of women from childhood. She said their younger sisters are living that truth adding that even their mothers have lived it.
She also said the book also explores rape. Mozela explained that rape in its entirety is all about control and power.
She added that although it is a bit hushed, there is a certain sentiment in the society. She said somehow society believes that rape is only rape if you have not been touched before which is wrong and needs people to be vocal about it. She said the 10 men that one slept with before willingly do not justify the 11th man forcing himself on her.
“Forgive God also looks at the stance of the church on purity culture. We have seen this in our churches. This is not blasphemy against God. He also knows our lived experiences. This book also looks at love. It is a worldwide pandemic; sometimes we get it right. Sometimes we do not. Almost all of us can attest to the unkindness of a lover who has fallen out of love,” said the writer.
“Forgive God talks about the hush culture surrounding rape-related pregnancies. The way society expects such women to discard the negative feelings they have the moment they hear the faint heartbeat of a baby in the belly. The mixed feelings the mother experiences when it comes to nurturing and accepting the child,” she explained.
She added that the book also raises conversations on what it means to actually Forgive God when individuals have been raised in an environment that polices their feelings.
She said it also questioned what individuals do when they are not allowed to be angry with God. She said the inspiration behind writing for her has always been to find her own voice.
The young publisher said she believed that nobody knows and holds people more than their own stories. The stories they live and actually pen down and the stories they live and hide from society.
She explained that from a very young age, she realised that she was not very eloquent in her speech and therefore chose writing because, despite all of that, she wanted to make her voice heard and to be seen.
“Writing this particular book was a fulfillment of that desire for me and also at the time I felt really wronged by God.
I think the title of the book is more religious than the content itself. I know a little bit about God and faith as a whole; from my own life experiences and from the testimonies of others as well. It is not an entirely religious book. I would say it is a faith-based fictional novel. What made me tick when writing the book were the characters themselves. Watching Zena’s story come alive before my very eyes was a phenomenal experience. Creation really is a beautiful thing,” she explained.