By Nkululeko Zondi
All good things come to an end, and so has one of South Africa’s favourite novel series, the Hlomu series. Dudu Busani-Dube left her readers in disappointed when she confirmed that her latest book The End is the final one of the Hlomu series.
Busani-Dube stole our hearts with her first book, Hlomu-The Wife. The book gained popularity in the country and PDF versions were shared amongst readers through social platforms.
“The plan was never to have a series,” she explained.
But because the book was so popular, and there were many people asking for more, she decided to do a series. Eight years later, she has decided to end the series and focus on her mental health and growth.
The End answers many questions that had risen in the previous books and some readers have even said it gives closure to some of the heart-breaking things that had happened previously, like (spoiler alert!) Mpondo’s death.
In the Hlomu series, the main character, Hlomu is Mqhele’s wife. Mqhele’s family is a rich one that operates in the taxi business.
Hlomu, like Busani-Dube, is a journalist from KwaZulu-Natal, but the author said she has had no personal experience of the taxi industry.
“I have never dated a taxi driver,” she said. This was also to clarify that she has limited information about the taxi industry, even though the series is plotted around eight brothers operating in the taxi industry. “The stories that are there are those that everyone can relate to because we find ourselves in it,” she said.
“I studied journalism because I wanted to become a writer,” she said. She started writing her first book, Hlomu- the Wife, in 2014 while “drinking wine on a rainy day.”
Eight years later, the series has been adapted for screenplay on the streaming service Showmax. Though the series has come to an end, Busani-Dube has promised that her fans can still expect more books from her in the future.
