Darlings of Durban follows the stories of four friends and how their lives intersect and influence each other.

Natasha owns a successful beauty company and is in a serious long-term relationship with the charming Sizwe. Natasha worries that his family will never truly accept her because of her mixed heritage. Does she even believe in marriage? Natasha often seeks the advice of her friend Sofia who's happily married with children. Sofia is the glue that holds the darlings together. The cousins, Farhana and Razia, both have their own complicated marriages. Farhana tries her best to support her husband in his harebrained schemes - even when it's to the detriment of her friendships. While Razia, the only darling in Johannesburg, feels stuck in her role as subservient wife to a husband whose attention is elsewhere.

All four women are navigating the complexities of love and life. But whatever life throws their way, the darlings always have each other.

Nisa Qamar is 10 years old, living in Johannesburg, South Africa with her single mum, Zainab, her little sister Aisha and their 3-year-old twin brothers, Ali and Isa. Nisa loves books, ice cream, bicycles and hanging out with her bestie. She also has a special bond with her grandmother who tells her wonderful stories from the past. Gran teaches her the importance of prayer and The Verse of the Throne ie aayat ul qursi.

Written as an adventure with the thematic elements of good triumphing over evil, Nisa uncovers a plot to take over her school by the evil TroubleMaker. In a race against time she has to figure out who she can trust on this quest or lose the game to the Master of Jinniaville.

This story is the first in the series and actively promotes the idea that even a young child can make a difference by keeping the heart clean and making the choice to do good over evil.

Romina Desai, a well-known artist and photojournalist, lives in Johannesburg and uses her art to make visual commentary on social issues and global politics. Her visionary work has earned her celebrity status in the art world. But she is confronted with the racism in the city and in her family when she falls in love with Ismail Mamadou, a Senegalese journalist working in London.

When Ismail arrives in South Africa announcing that he is following a story lead about a thriving child trafficking ring in the country, he also reveals his more personal reason for being here: to look for his sister who disappeared from home 25 years ago. He finds more than he bargained for in a web of crime syndicates operating brothels and engaging in human trafficking and prostitution.

The Economics Of Love And Happiness is a novel that comments on the sweet and not-so-sweet layers of social and romantic life in South Africa and beyond, where greed and lust often take centre stage and empathy is lost. In this way, it maps out the cost of love and happiness.

This story provides a window into the myriad cultures and beliefs that overlap and colour the landscape while Romina and Ismail navigate the challenges that come their way. Will their budding romance survive the bigger storms around them?

What happens when you have a class project due, and you have teamed up with two completely different personalities?

Nisa’s group consists of the bubbly, effervescent Hasna and Amir, the strange new boy who doesn’t say much. When they meet up to plan their presentation, their world is turned upside down, all because of a broken watch and a chance encounter with the Timekeeper’s Manifesto.

It holds a cryptic message, that you must search your past to find your purpose. When a strange green gas seeps through the streets, the President announces a shutdown of Johannesburg City. Curfews are announced to keep people indoors, gumboots, gas masks and oxygen tanks are the new fashion statement, and schools are closed. As the green gas grows and thickens around them, it overwhelms the city skies and soon sunlight struggles to get in.

A gloomy green darkness descends on Jozi. The city seems frozen in time. According to the Circle of the Astrolabe, they don’t have much time to reverse this mess before the green gunk takes permanent hold of the city.

How much longer can they endure and who can stop this great green menace so that life can return to normal again? Nisa Qamar and the Circle of the Astrolabe is the fourth book in the Nisa Qamar series by WordFlute Press.