In Conversation with Zibu Sithole
To celebrate the release of Love, Zola, we've partnered with Pan Macmillan SA to bring you a Q&A with the author, Zibu Sithole!
Love, Zola is the captivating continuation of Zola's vibrant, heart-stirring story. From career pressures to unexpected confessions, Zola and Mbali's journey tests their understanding of commitment and what a happy ending truly looks like.
Filled with tension, passion, and poignant revelations, Love, Zola is a story of self-discovery, second chances, and the challenges of modern relationships. Can love survive when the past refuses to let go?
- Zola and Mbali's journey is truly tested in Love, Zola. What aspect of their commitment did you most enjoy exploring?
Watching people fall in love is cute, but watching them define what love means to them as individuals has been so much more interesting. Zola and Mbali are passed the butterflies, spontaneous getaways can't fix the problems they have now and they can really see each other beyond the infatuation and still love each other.
- Okuhle's return definitely stirs things up! What was it like bringing her back into Zola's world?
Okuhle definitely complicates Zola's love story, but she isn't a villain. Okuhle’s return tests Zola and Mbali’s commitment to each other and forces them to look inside the relationship for threats. Okuhle leaving and Zola and Mbali living happily ever after would make it seem like she was the problem all along, and I like Okuhle way too much to let her be misunderstood like that.
- Zozo's "happily-ever-after" faces some challenges. Can readers expect to see her confront those old feelings head-on?
No. Zozo never confronts her issues by choice, she has a habit of allowing herself to be backed into a corner and even though she's grown a lot, her life has changed a lot, but she's still the same Zozo we love.
- Love, Zola promises tension, passion, and poignant revelations. What was the most challenging scene to write in this book?
The tension between Zola and Okuhle had me grinding my teeth more than once. They aren't catty; they are smart, professionals fighting to keep their composure. It would have been so much easier if they were the type to fight it out.
- This is the conclusion to the series! Without giving away spoilers, what do you hope readers take away from Zola's complete story arc?
Zola's story is a love story in more than one way, it's more than just romance. In the end I hope it's clear that self love is the beginning of true love. There can be no healthy love without it and no other love can ever be enough to make a lack of self love okay.
- Your previous novels, The Thing with Zola and I Do... Don't I?, have been so well-loved. What makes Love, Zola the perfect ending to this trilogy?
I love that it is both expected and unexpected. We know the characters, I for one have become so attached to them that I had fears and wishes for them, but they aren't the same characters we met at the beginning of the first book. I'm so proud of these fictional people.
