Love, infidelity inspire new book

Sophie Chese-Msowa Arts Correspondent
After witnessing a number of challenges that people in love or marriage face, Bulawayo-based author Josh Mack has come up with a novel that looks at such issues and how best they can be solved.

Titled “Be Mine”, the novel was launched on February 10.

In an interview, Mack said he is surprised with the response the novel has so far got.

“I am pleasantly surprised that I seem to be getting an equal balance of people interested in the book, both men and women.

“When I wrote the book I thought the subject matter will mostly appeal to men but the interest seems to be coming from both ends. I guess issues on paternal doubt, abusive relationships and infidelity are really gender-neutral and everyone is affected equally,” he said.

He said he was inspired to write the book by the article that was published by this newspaper on the issue of men who go for paternity test only to discover that the child or children are not theirs.

“The inspiration was initially sparked by an article that was flighted by your paper on how more than 70 percent of men who undertook DNA testing discovered that they were not the biological fathers.

“I saw that this number is just too much. I have never come across a book that addresses the subject of the anguish and torment that men can go through trying to figure out if a child is really theirs.

“Men step up and raise children but always at the back of their mind that question is ringing and this is usually as a result of broken trust.

‘‘I felt compelled to tell a story that will portray these issues, their effects and hopefully people will ultimately draw out the dos and don’ts for them to get a successful and happy relationship,” he said.

The novel is Mack’s first book after having written a number of articles for magazines and websites

“I have been blogging a lot and I have a blog called Zimborderguide where I blog about border-crossing procedures and I also have some short stories I did, but ‘Be Mine’ is my first, book,” he said.

He also highlighted that he will be publishing another book soon.

“I will be working on a sequel to this one and also something a bit technical or a sort of a guide for travelling in Zimbabwe.”