Nada the Lily

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Mopo, once the physician and adviser of Shaka, recounts the rise of the Zulu kingdom and the doomed love of Nada and Umslopogaas. Personal vengeance moves through royal murders, military conquest and the violent succession from Shaka to Dingane, while Umslopogaas becomes a warrior of legendary reputation.

The novel blends Zulu oral-history motifs, historical rulers and tragic romance. Although shaped by a Victorian author’s interpretation, it centres African protagonists and uses the formation of the Zulu state, the Mfecane and dynastic violence as the forces that determine individual lives.