{"product_id":"we-inherit-the-fire-a-novel","title":"WE INHERIT THE FIRE, a novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e276pp., paperback, \u003c\/em\u003eFirst SA Edition, Penguin, Cape Town, 2026\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eISBN: 9781776393244\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst published in Canada in 2026.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn unflinching portrait of the fractured relationship between a mother and her daughter, set against the tumultuous end of apartheid in South Africa.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the late 1980s Kelelo, the teenage daughter of celebrated freedom fighter Kewame “Dolly” Malaka,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is forced to leave her mountain school for a newly desegregated school in town. While her classmates see her as a symbol of progress, at home she struggles with a mother who is emotionally unreachable, haunted by the violence and deprivation she endured as a political prisoner.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Blazingly brilliant ...\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e While apartheid has ended, Lesego Molope reminds us a nascent state is not a utopian, static place to arrive at. She deftly situates the reader in intergenerational transitions from childhood to adulthood, using youthful longing and nostalgia and the struggles of motherhood to sharply question whether habitual and ongoing suppression should be fought through quiet dignity or by professing legitimate anger. She asks us, where we find ourselves in repressive situations, what costs we are willing to bear and complicates ideals of the mother figure through a fiery character drawn as iconic, heroic, rationally hostile yet traumatized.” \u003c\/span\u003eJamie Chai Yun Liew, author of \u003cem\u003eDandelion\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Kagiso Lesego Molope writes with striking precision and intelligence, crafting prose that moves like poetry while speaking directly to the heart ... Deftly weaving the less told stories of young women and the haunted memories of political prisoners in South Africa, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eWe Inherit the Fire\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e asks what it means to be truly known amidst the collective struggle.\" \u003c\/span\u003eJanika Oza, author of\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eA History of Burning\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKagiso Lesego Molope\u003c\/strong\u003e was born in Atteridgeville, Pretoria. \u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eShe is the author of the novels \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eDancing in the Dust,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Mending Season,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eSuch a Lonely, Lovely Road \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003eand \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis Book Betrays My Brother,\u003c\/i\u003e and has received t\u003cspan\u003ehe 2014 Percy FitzPatrick Award, the 2019 Ottawa Book Award for Fiction, and the 2019 inaugural Pius Adesanmi Memorial Award. She currently lives in Canada.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Molope (K.L.)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42282262003758,"sku":null,"price":350.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0265\/3182\/3662\/files\/WeInherittheF.jpg?v=1776683332","url":"https:\/\/clarkesbooks.co.za\/products\/we-inherit-the-fire-a-novel","provider":"Clarke's Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}