Nwelezelanga

Nwelezelanga, The Star Child travels a magical and spiritual journey that merges the ancestral realms with contemporary realities. It is a story of anancestral spirit that is born through Nwelezelanga, who is tasked with the purpose to pass messages frombeyond; a divine responsibility to children of the star. The birth of Nwelezelanga was foreseen by the wiseones of the tribes and hidden in folktales and abstract proverbs. However, forces of black magic and the underworld had clandestine intentions to interfere with her divine destiny and will undignified death upon her birth. 'Absolute-truth' reveals that there is birth within death. The story explores how forces of the upper- and underworld, light and darkness, the known and the unknown unravel to determine her destiny. With a rich vocabulary that is poetic and uncluttered, this debut novel is nothing short of a masterpiece. It is both a well-written and philosophical book. The story begins with Nokwakha giving birth at her village home, and when it is discovered that the child is an albino the midwife convinces her that it is a curse and she should snuff the life out of it before it takes another breath. The dreadful deed is done by the river, but the 'all-knowing one' has other plans...With an assured voice and eloquent prose, Magubeni invites us into the life of this extraordinary being, Nwelezelanga, the child who should not have been, contrasting the themes of darkness and light, embracing the unknown and unseen in a way no one else has—or can.