WOMAN OF MY UNCLE

At a school ballroom dance in Mongu, the provincial headquarters town of Western Province, Zambia,19-year-old Muyunda experiences his first glimpse of love-and its consequences. When Namangolwa becomes pregnant and is expelled from school, her furious father demands three cows in compensation. Muyunda wants to accept responsibility, but his own father refuses to help. Determined to do what is right, the young man leaves his rural home for Lusaka to find work and earn the bride-price. Instead, in Lusaka, every door is closed unless you belong to the right tribe or know the right people. Living with his principled uncle Mubuka, a man hated for his honesty, Muyunda sees how integrity becomes dangerous in a society obsessed with connections. Matters worsen when Mubuka's wife, Dora-desperate for a child-tries to seduce him. His refusal triggers a chain of events that exposes him to powerful enemies, hired thugs, and the corrupt CEO who wants his uncle destroyed. As Muyunda battles assault, humiliation, and the devastating news of his infant son's death, a rare chance to train in England appears. But jealousy runs deep: a senior colleague vows to ruin him, and Dora's descent into drugs and hallucinations ends in murder-while Muyunda tragically errs and is sentenced to prison. After six months behind bars, he emerges broken, jobless, and living in the slums of Mutengo, where hardship pushes him into addiction and the edge of sanity. Woman of My Uncle is a powerful and emotionally charged novel about love, corruption, tribalism, and the brutal cost of integrity. It asks a timeless question: How far can a man fall before he loses himself completely?