KNYGA Zahirra Dayal The Whispering Jacarandas

The Whispering Jacarandas is a haunting debut that unfolds in the charged aftermath of Zimbabwe’s independence. In the leafy suburb of Belvedere, sisters Zaynah and Amira grow up within the shelter of a close-knit Indian community, until one night of violence shatters their childhood and leaves an unspoken rift between them.As the sisters navigate adolescence under the shadow of silence, their paths diverge: one drawn inward into secrecy, the other seeking escape in rebellion. Against a backdrop of political upheaval and simmering racial tensions, they must confront the weight of trauma and the fragility of identity, as they struggle to repair the fractured threads of sisterhood.Lyrical and devastating, The Whispering Jacarandas evokes the beauty and resilience of its namesake blooms while exploring how love, loyalty, and the search for belonging endure in even the harshest of landscapes.