Her father's last wish was a simple coffin. Death has more complicated ideas.
Kgosi Morabe has spent forty years being the one who holds the secrets of others while keeping her own buried. She's a PR professional: Invisibility is the job. But when her father dies and the family descends on their Sandton mansion in a chaos of designer mourning dresses, four live cows, and a half-brother nobody knew existed, Kgosi finds herself at the centre of something she can't spin her way out of.
Because her father cheated death once, in a Soweto street in 1976. And now Death wants something back.
Ferociously funny, steeped in Yoruba mythology, and set inside the gilded dysfunction of Johannesburg's Black Diamond elite, Death Rattle is a debut that announces a major new voice in African speculative fiction. Grief is a performance, class is a weapon, and the Orisha Oya has been watching from the storm clouds all along.
Some inheritances you don't get to refuse.
Death Rattle is a lovely fusion of Yoruba mythology and the chaos that comes with any major family event, all handled with the kind of humour that only a South African can truly appreciate.
The story follows Kgosi Morabe, a forty-year-old PR professional tasked with organising her father’s funeral. While that would be difficult enough on its own, she’s also dealing with family secrets, impossible social expectations, questions surrounding her mysterious parentage, a creepy cousin, four very unexpected cows, and the arrival of a half-brother nobody knew existed. Oh, and Death itself might have come to collect a debt decades in the making.
Kgosi feels real. We all understand that feeling of trying to live up to the standards of the people we love while still looking after ourselves. She’s carrying so much grief, responsibility and expectation.
This book is heavily influenced by Yoruba mythology, and it’s what takes the story to another level. These elements bring something fresh and exciting, giving me the same feeling I had reading books inspired by Greek and Roman mythology as a child. It makes you want to absorb as much information as possible about this beautiful mythology. Safe to say I’m going to need to do some book shopping, so I’m absolutely taking Yoruba mythology book recommendations.
The book is well-written and incredibly engaging. The family drama keeps you on your toes and the characters are wonderfully fleshed out. You know people like this, which somehow makes the chaos even more entertaining. The premise feels fresh and new, at least to me, and I loved how it blended mythology, grief and contemporary South African life.
While I enjoyed almost everything about this book, the pacing bugged me a little. The first two-thirds slowly build towards Kgosi discovering who her mother was, what her future might hold, and uncovering the wild secrets hiding within her family. Then suddenly, everything happens at once. The final section felt like the end of a roller coaster ride, it was exciting, but over far too quickly. I found myself wishing we’d spent a little more time there because I wasn’t quite ready for it to end.
At its heart, this is a story about discovering where you come from and who you’re becoming. But mostly, I think this book is about grief. Grieving the person you’ve lost. Grieving the person you couldn’t become. And grieving the life you have to leave behind in order to become the person you’re meant to be.
5 “Is it me? Am I the drama?” out of 5.
“Death's sister has many names, but we know her as Grief. She is the cool blanket that breaks a fever. She is the immortal who waits in silence with man after Her older sibling has passed through. Created by man to sweep away Death's destruction, whether by war, disease, or by familial mistakes, She is called upon to heal. Unlike Her sister, She can be attached to families, tribes or countries forever, because some fevers take a long time to break.”
Death Rattle by Lebogang Matseke is something special. It is an absolutely beautiful urban Afro-fantasy that somehow manages to mix death, grief, family drama, and some of the eeriest versions of the afterlife I have read, and the insanity that is planning a funeral in a single tale. The plot revolves around Kgosi's and the tangled web that gets revealed as she learns that her father managed to cheat Death during the Soweto student uprising in 1976, where he was supposed to die with the many school kids that were slaughtered that day by the Apartheid police. Death has waited a long time to get something back.
The prose throughout this novel has been poetically beautiful. It is a rich piece of text steeped Yoruba mythology that also manages to explore the dysfunction of the black elite here in South Africa. Kgosi, is a phenomenal protagonist, richly written. Lebogang also manages to create a protagonist that is vile, and does so in such a fascinating way, the character barely speaks, she uses his actions and his presence to show what an awful piece of shit he is.
As someone who is going through the grieving process myself, I genuinely felt comfort in this novel. I related a lot to Kgosi, and the absurdity that happens after a death of a loved one.
I should give a trigger warning for a section in this novel. It was genuinely one of the most disturbing things I have read in a while and made me sick and filled with anger. The sheer lack of humanity that Kgosi faces through that section is just brutal.
Death Rattle is superb, and it isn't a book I just enjoyed, it is a book that knocked me off my feet and has probably left a permanent mark on my being.
Death Rattle by Lebogang Matseke is a wildly imaginative blend of family drama, sharp humour, and African speculative fiction that completely won me over.
Centred around Kgosi as she navigates the chaos surrounding her father's funeral, the story is deeply rooted in Yoruba mythology while exploring grief, family, legacy, and the courage it takes to embrace who you truly are. Having recently been responsible for organising two funerals myself, I found Kgosi incredibly easy to relate to. Although our cultural experiences are very different, the emotional weight of loss and the pressure of holding everything together felt strikingly familiar.
The mythology was easily one of my favourite aspects. The lore is rich without feeling overwhelming, weaving seamlessly into a story that balances the supernatural with biting social commentary. Matseke also has a fantastic sense of humour, and even during its heavier moments, the novel never loses its wit.
The cast is wonderfully memorable—well, almost. I couldn't stand Terrence. When I met Lebogang Matseke again at a book event, I jokingly asked why she never gave him the comeuppance I felt he deserved. Her response? "Well, some people just get away with things, don't they?" It was such a simple answer, but also painfully true.
Beneath the laughter and mythology lies a powerful story about accepting yourself, embracing your inheritance, and ultimately claiming your own power.
If you're looking to read more African speculative fiction, Death Rattle deserves a place at the very top of your list.
DEATH RATTLE will be a comfortably familiar type of story for fans of classic fantasy. Kgosi needs to shed the burdens of mundane life to prove herself capable of stepping into a powerful, arcane role. Where DEATH RATTLE distinguishes itself is in the Johannesburg Black Diamond elite setting. Kgosi's stepfamily are so much more treacherous than Cinderella's! The politicking, the backbiting, the betrayal... all with an impeccably made up smile on their faces (and muthi in their pockets.)
I really enjoyed the Yoruba mythology in this, too. Oya and her realm felt appropriately otherworldly and unknowable. The moments where Kgosi shifted between planes were some of my favourites.
Excellent! Love the way the stages of grief are incorporated into a great tale. Learning about factions in the black culture was most informative, the better we know each other, the better we understand our world. Well done!