If I stay right here by Chwayita Ngamlana

ISBN: 9781928337447

PUBLISHER: Jacana - Blackbird Book; 2017

FORMAT: Paperback; 180 pages

DESCRIPTION: Shay, a seemingly shy and innocent journalism student, is sent to a female prison to cover a story on an inmate, but falls in love instead. Two months later, Sippy, Shay’s love interest, is out of prison and they move in together.

On the outside, Sippy is the haunted one in the relationship, but as their love story unfolds, it turns out that Shay has her own secrets.

This immersive and interesting story – written with no small amount of flair and intensity – is sexually charged and filled with moments of lacerating violence, both emotional and physical. At heart, it is the story of a woman’s inability to let go of that which both nourishes and destroys her.