SoPhia, by Shafinaaz Hassim

When a man hits his wife for the first time, he hesitates. It takes a shaky hand to strike someone you love.

We all have our demons. Pain and frustration clash with fear and self-loathing They play havoc with us. Once that first time has passed, it becomes easier; allowing the attacker a temporary relief from the demonic craze. Zarreen Kader knows that this is true of her encounters with her husband, Majid Akram Noorani. And her parents are happy that she is happily married. So she resolves not to tell them about the abuse. After all, he loves her. And he loves the children. So she does what she has to do, to hold her marriage together. Until the lies catch up with her. And her life begins to fall apart. Are they, as a family, ready for the skeletons that burst out of their past?

Akram must face the dark memories that threaten his sanity, or be engulfed by them, while Zarreen travels to the island of Mauritius, where her Sufi great-grandfather once lived. Will she escape her reality or try to make sense of her struggles? As these stories occur side by side, often with their inextricable overlaps, the drama of personal life, confrontation and a victim’s silence is made whole.

SoPhia is a love story set primarily in Johannesburg, South Africa. This is not a romance novel, but rather a compelling narrative of hope, compassion, and self-realisation.