Witch Girl

Under the surface lurks Luse, a sharp street child combing the gang-ridden city in a desperate search for Doctor Georgia Shapiro who can offer her a way back into her once-bright past. The Doctor is trying to unravel the mystery of her friend’s sudden death while mourning the new gap in her life and the AIDS crisis laying waste to the country around her. Meanwhile the Blood Of Christ Church and its enigmatic leader Priestess Selena Clark gain traction in the community with their murky promises of salvation and violent clandestine rituals. A small silver box links the three in ways they cannot imagine and will force the women to question who they trust, who they are and for who they fight. Witch Girl is a pacy crime thriller that juggles the past and the present effortlessly and whose magic holds the reader hostage until the final page.

In a Zambia that is experiencing the disintegration of family units as HIV/AIDS takes hold, the Blood of Christ Church makes its mark by distributing a film entitled Witch Children, a film about child demonization, where children feed off their parents. Eleven year old Luse’s father and mother are both HIV-positive activists, living healthy, happy lives. But once the family becomes involved with the Blood of Christ church, everything changes.

How is it that Luse and her little brother Joshua have ended up living in a storm drain in Lusaka, searching for someone named George Shapi? How did they come to have a special box from Harry the Rasta that holds answers about what happened to the missing Danish filmmakers who were investigating the highly secretive and heavily guarded Blood of Christ Street Child Rehabilitation Centre?

Through a unique blend of issues such as witchcraft, AIDS activism, religious extremism, Tanvi Bush weaves together a thrilling narrative with vivid descriptions and unforgettable characters.