I sip on the wine and taste fear in its warmth. I feel the movements of ancestral imidudo, intlombe, within me, trying to drive the darkness back . . .

Phila Maseti is estranged from his daughters by his late Scottish wife and is adrift. He accepts a commission to write the biography of the journalist Bloke Modisane, but as he pieces together the restless life of this great literary voice, he finds that it mirrors his own unravelling.

He moves between Cape Town and Europe, tracing the footsteps of his dispossessed peoples who once sought justice in a language not their own.

In his journey from past to present, Phila carries ancestors, ghosts of former selves and the grief of his wife’s death.

The slow return of his daughters also brings the challenge of teaching them about culture and identity in a country still wrestling with its own history. 

Phila is steadied only by his new partner, Kyuri – whose own spiritual inheritance has been shaped by Asian migrations, unhealthy silences, and colonial history. Together, they attempt to build a life attentive to memory without becoming imprisoned by it.

Multitudes is in conversation with Ntabeni’s debut novel, The Broken River Tent, in reconciling the many lives we inherit.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mphuthumi (Mpush) Ntabeni contributes to various national and international publications. He is trained in built environment, reads literature, history and philosophy. He lives in Cape Town. His debut novel, the Broken River Tent, won the University of Johannesburg Debut Prize 2019. His second novel The Wanderers was published by Kwela Books in 2021. Multitudes is his third novel.

'Multitudes' is published by Kwela Books, an imprint of Jonathan Ball Publishers