“Spellbinding… A fascinating tale driven by a missing man’s impact on those left behind. Southern African history is seen from memorable perspectives, and justice is dealt in singular, surprising terms." — Foreword Reviews

"Ndlovu’s lyrical writing has reimagined how stories about post-independence Zimbabwe are told, and reflected some of the country’s darker moments." — The Guardian

"Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, with her lyrical prowess, has done a marvelous job of narrating pre- and post-colonial Zimbabwean history in her City of Kings trilogy." — Global Literature in Libraries Initiative
“Here you will find characters to remember.” —The Big Thrill

“One of the finest books from Africa.” —Afritondo

★Winner, Outstanding Fiction Book Prize, Zimbabwe National Arts Merit Awards
★Shortlist, 2023 Sunday Times Literary Awards,Best African Books of 2023, African Arguments
★From 2022 Windham Campbell Prize winner Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, the breathtaking conclusion to her multiple award-winning City of Kings trilogy, including The Theory of Flight and The History of Man, “Perhaps the most monumental trilogy to come out of Southern Africa.”—Afrocritik

Everyone saw Emil Coetzee drive into the bush the day the ceasefire was announced. Beatrice, busy consoling her friend Kuki over the loss of her son and marriage. Dikeledi, the postwoman who refuses to lean. Tom, the drunk who makes his living impersonating Emil in backroads bars. Vida de Villiers, stuck in a coin-toss choice. Saskia, the feisty reporter determined to ruin Emil’s name. Marion, the enigmatic lover he left behind. Mrs. Louisa Alcott, the lonely farm wife reading Mills & Boon romances in her best dress, waiting for her life to begin. But nobody saw him drive out of it.

So begins the investigation of Spokes Moloi, the first black chief inspector in the City of Kings, who on the eve of his retirement is handed one final crime: the possible murder of Mr. Coetzee, the notorious head of the Organization of Domestic Affairs, who disappeared on the same day the country's independence beckoned. In investigating Emil’s disappearance, Spokes' path collides with an assortment of witnesses with the best and worst of intentions—including a pair of corrupt investigators with an eye towards framing the guerrilla icon Golide Gumede for Emil’s murder, and the insatiable public, infatuated with Emil and unable to come to terms with the fact that the future they had so long anticipated had, at last, arrived.

With a nation in flux and his beloved wife Loveness forever present in his mind, Spokes’ investigation leads him back to the very beginning— and gives him one last chance to solve the twenty-year-old murder case that determined both the path of his life and destiny of his country.

Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu
A writer, filmmaker and academic who holds a PhD in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University, as well as master’s degrees in African Studies and Film from Ohio University. She has published research on Saartjie Baartman and she wrote, directed and edited the award-winning short film Graffiti. Her first novel, The Theory of Flight won the Barry Ronge Fiction Prize in South Africa. Her second and third novels, The History of Man and The Quality of Mercy, respectively, have been shortlisted for the Sunday Times Literary Awards. In 2022, Ndlovu was awarded a Windham-Campbell Prize for Fiction. In 2023, her story "The Postman" in the Yale Review, based on a character in The Quality of Mercy, was a finalist for the American Society of Magazine Editors Award. Born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Ndlovu has returned to her beloved city after many years of living abroad.