House of Margins

by Tlotlo Tsamaase

Overview

Serial the podcast meets The Other Black Girl in a haunted house, as young African author disappears after being invited to an exclusive writing residency, and her sister is left only with a true crime podcast to help her uncover the truth about what really happened…

Anaya Sebeya is missing.

Before her disappearance, Anaya was a brilliant writer: a rising star. Invited to a prestigious writing residency at Günter Huis, an eerie colonial mansion on the slopes of Devil’s Peak, Anaya was supposed to craft the next great African literary masterpiece—and so were four other young, emerging writers, all competing for the grand prize. But Anaya never made it home.

When a sensationalized true crime podcast about Anaya emerges, claiming to reveal everything that happened at Günter Huis, her sister Ranewa is both skeptical and furious. But with each surreal episode, Ranewa begins to piece together a truth worse than she ever could have imagined…

At Günter Huis, Anaya’s nightmares consume her. Time slips away from her. Günter Huis inflicts distorted visions and terrible supernatural visitations, pushing Anaya to tell a story no one dares. But exorcising the house’s endless cycle of evil requires a sacrifice that neither Anaya nor her fellows are ready to make.

In House of Margins, award-winning Motswana author Tlotlo Tsamaase delivers a mesmerizing story of a young generation facing colonialism’s cultural legacy in Africa.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781645661047
Publisher:	Kensington
Publication date:	05/26/2026
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Tlotlo Tsamaase (pronounced “toe-toe SA-mah-AYE-say”) is a Nommo Award-winning Motswana author. Longlisted for the British Science Fiction Award, her debut novel, Womb City, is an Ignyte, Nommo, and Locus Award finalist. Her novella, The Silence of Wilting Skin is a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and her short fiction has appeared in multiple best-of anthologies, Africa Risen, New Suns 2, Chiral Mad 5, and other venues. She received support from the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Originally from Botswana, she now lives in Nebraska and can be found online at tlotlotsamaase.com.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for WOMB CITY by Tlotlo Tsamaase:

“A fearless novel that probes ideas of surveillance, misogyny and class. . . . Tsamaase brilliantly tackles ideas of motherhood and autonomy. The author seamlessly blends a body-hopping ghost story about revenge with a narrative about the importance of memory. It’s such an original first novel, and I’ll be reading whatever comes next.” —The New York Times Book Review

‘“The body horror and sci-fi elements work together beautifully, melding into a thrilling and thought-provoking page-turner. Tsamaase is a writer to watch.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Captivating and valiant. . . . With both chilling precision and anguished passion, Womb City depicts a toxic future of cyber-reincarnation and authoritarian omniscience.” —Foreword Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

“This Afrofuturist novel’s twisty plot has a lot to say about inequality — and complicity.” —Los Angeles Times

“Womb City pulsates with this gender-expansive feminist rage, propelling a narrative at breakneck speed—sometimes literally, for the characters—that leaves no one exempt from misogyny’s horrifying control.” —Los Angeles Review of Books

“This Africanfuturist horror novel brings cyberpunk vibes, dystopian vibes, and ghost stories together for a great and unique read.” —Book Riot

“Womb City is an Afrofuturist, cyberpunk, feminist, horror thrill ride and if that isn't enough... I can't help you.” —Book Culture

“Enjoyably terrifying.” —New Scientist

“Womb City is an introspective Africanfuturist horror for readers who love stories that take a swing at reductive views on gender and crime without hiding the awfulness those issues bring up.” —Lightspeed

“A piercing critique of patriarchal power . . .Womb City is a gripping read for anyone interested in bringing down systems of oppression.” —Ancillary Review of Books

“A fierce, furious, and fearless debut that has its finger on the pulse—no, the gushing wound—of our world's most invasive cruelties.” —Daniel Kraus, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Shape of Water

“This beautifully written work haunts and upends expectations with its resurrected ghosts and gods and ancestors of Motswana cosmology. What an accomplished debut!” —T. L. Huchu, Caine Prize finalist and author of The Library of the Dead

From the Publisher