COMING OF AGE IN AFRICA: Following four sisters—Nyeredzi, Abigail, Hannah, and Ruth—and their justice-driven, devoted mother as they navigate poverty, a rapidly changing society, and the trials of young womanhood, Ndima Ndima could be considered a new-age Little Women from Africa. The structure of the story also bears resemblance to Angela Flournoy's bestselling debut The Turner House.
FEMINIST TO ITS CORE: Zuva, our paramount character, is an incredibly dynamic lead. Having left her village—where she was to serve as chief upon the passing of her parents, bypassing her older brother—she becomes a highly respected soldier in the Rhodesian Bush War. Later, as a mother, she teachers her girls how to survive on the land, keep themselves safe, take their fates in their own hands, and do right by their loved ones and community. She fearlessly faces down violent men and militias while leading her family and people with compassion and laughter. 
ABOUT ZIMBABWE, FROM ZIMBABWE: Mapepa was born and raised in Zimbabwe, and her nuanced cultural knowledge, as well as her deeply rooted love for the people of Southern Africa, shines through her work. And at a time when the literary world is hungry for Zimbabwean literature—see Tsitsi Dangarembga, NoViolet Bulawayo, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, Petina Gappah, Novuyo Rosa Tshuma’s House of Stone, Tendia Huchu’s The Hairdresser of Harare—as well as for debut works of fiction, Mapepa’s debut is well-positioned.
ON THE COATTAILS OF GREATS: A perfect follow-up to the final book in Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu’s Windham-Campbell Prize award-winning City of Kings trilogy (set in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe), which we will publish 2.5 months before Ndima Ndima, this book combines the softer literary elements of Siphiwe’s work with the vibrant, no-nonsense style of We Need New Names’ young narrator.