The Reactive

Author: Masande Ntshanga Series: Jacaranda

Rendered in lyrical, bright prose and set in a not-so-new South Africa, The Reactive is a poignant, life-affirming story about pharmaceutical conspiracy and the redemption that comes from facing what haunts us most.

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In a city that has lost its shimmer, Lindanathi and his two friends Ruan and Cecelia sell illegal pharmaceuticals while chasing their next high. Lindanathi, deeply troubled by his hand in his brother's death, has turned his back on his family, until a message from home reminds him of a promise he made years before. When a puzzling masked man enters their lives, Lindanathi is faced with a decision: continue his life in Cape Town, or return to his family and to all he has left behind.

Rendered in lyrical, bright prose and set in a not-so-new South Africa, The Reactive is a poignant, life-affirming story about secrets, memories and the redemption that comes from facing what haunts us most.

Critic Reviews

“An extraordinary debut. Out of the unpromising subjects of HIV and substance abuse Ntshanga crafts a novel of devastating emotional power. Stylistically sophisticated and beautifully observed.”

About the Author

Masanda Ntsganga is the winner of the inaugural PEN International New Voices Award in 2013, and a finalist for the Caine Prize in 2015. He was born in East London in 1986 and graduated with a degree in Film and Media and an Honours degree in English Studies from UCT, where he became a creative writing fellow, completing his Masters in Creative Writing under the Mellon Mays Foundation. He received a Fulbright Award, an NRF Freestanding Masters scholarship, a Civitella Ranieri Fellowship and a Bundanon Trust Award. His work has appeared in The White Review, Chimurenga, VICE and n + 1. He has also written for Rolling Stone magazine.

More on this Book

Ten years ago, I helped a handful of men take my little brother's life... Lindanathi and his friends-Cecelia and Ruan-make their living working low-paying jobs and selling anti-retroviral drugs. In between, they huff glue, drift in and out of parties, and traverse the streets of Cape Town, where they observe the grave material disparities of their country. One day, a mysterious masked man appears seeking to buy their surplus of anti-retroviral drugs, an offer that would present the three with the opportunity to escape their environment, while at the same time forcing Lindanathi to confront his path, and finally, his past. "One of the most exciting debut novels I've read in years. Ntshanga is a wildly talented writer. Get in on his brilliance now so you can claim you always knew he'd be great." Victor LaValle, author of Big Machine