We Kiss Them With Rain

Life wasn't always hard for fourteen-year-old Mvelo. There were good times living with her mother and her mother's lawyer boyfriend. Now her mother is dying of AIDS and the terrible thing that stole Mvelo's song remains unspoken, despite its growing presence in their shack. But a series of choices, chance meetings, and Shakespearean comedy-style exposures of hidden identities hands Mvelo a golden opportunity to overcome hardship.

We Kiss Them With Rain explores both humor and tragedy in this modern-day fairytale set in a squatter camp outside Durban, South Africa, in which the things that seem to be are only a façade, and the things that are revealed and unveiled create a happier, thoroughly believable, alternative.

We walk amongst the living
We, the departed . . .
We wander the earth
Wondering about the orphans we left behind
We kiss them with rain . . .

Futhi Ntshingila grew up in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Now she lives and works in Pretoria. She is a former journalist and holds a Master's degree in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution. She loves telling stories about the marginalized corners of society, including women and children in South Africa and particularly those who live in the squatter camps. In her two novels published in South Africa, she features strong women who empower themselves despite circumstances that seek to disempower them. We Kiss Them With Rain is her debut into the North American market.