Book of the Month

Review by Tonderai Chiyindiko

Darlings of Durban by sociologist-turned-author Shafinaaz Hassim follows the story of four women, who affectionately refer to themselves as the “darlings” as they navigate the complexities of family life, strict religious practices, suffocating cultural expectations, complicated relationships, broken marriages, debilitating financial struggles and many other challenges whilst belonging to and living in and among the Indian community of Durban.
  The novel is a thorough and detailed exploration of a community which is not often represented in contemporary literature and through Shafinaaz Hassim’s book readers get to indulge in all that makes the Indian community tightknit and culturally effervescent. Not only do we as readers get to learn about delectable dishes such as sojee, biryani, akhnee which have come to define and represent Indian cuisine all over the world, the author shows how deeply embedded she is within her community in how she weaves a tale of diverse and colourful characters within a community many assume is homogenous mostly out of ignorance. This is what gives Darlings of Durban unmatched authority and an uncanny relatable-ness and to some degree this could be ascribed to Hassim’s background as a sociologist.

The story centres around Natasha, who in her own words was not considered Indian enough nor Black enough due to her mixed heritage. She is by far the more adventurous of the ‘darlings’ relation-wise as depicted in her failed tumultuous to Sizwe and her unexpected marriage to Hasim. Other characters include Razia, Farhana and Sofia and in them together with Natasha we are introduced to a sisterhood of sorts which is cemented by their Darlings WhatsApp group. In the group, discussions about love, sex, family and much more take place which makes it a digital sanctuary of sorts for the ‘darlings’.

Though Shafinaaz Hassim has primarily been widely recognised for her academic work, she did receive plaudits for her novel SoPhia (2012) which was shortlisted for the UJ Prize for Creative Writing in English (2013) and for the K Sello Duiker Award at the SA Literary Awards (2013). Her short story The Pink Oysters published in the Africa39 anthology made her one of the authors under the age of 40 honoured by UNESCO. In 2019, Hassim received a National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) award for her novel The Economics of Love and Happiness which focussed on human trafficking.

This review is part of the Book of the Month series 2025 from the Goethe-Institut South Africa. A new review by South Africans for South Africans will be published every month, check back regularly. 

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