Synopsis
The new novel is in many ways a logical sequel to Ndhlala's earlier novel, Jikinya. Ndhlala's narrative strategy in The Southern Circle is to rely on a forty-year-old, guiltridden narrator whose reminiscences portray the fate of three generations belonging to the same family. In essence the story is about Zengeza, a son, Masutu, and the narrator himself, Rugare. Although remnants of that idyllic rural life depicted in Jikinkya are still discernible in the new novel, these are manifested as an aspect of childhood nostalgia.
