Stories of love, longing, and everyday life in Cape Town.
Hi, I’m Rushdiyah. I write romance and slice-of-life fiction rooted in Cape Town. They’re the kind of stories that live in quiet kitchens, on familiar streets, and in the private corners of people’s hearts.
My characters are often women trying to understand themselves while navigating love, family, faith, and the silences that shape our communities. If you love tender, character-driven stories that explore identity, yearning, and place, you’re in the right space.
Some Unspoken Thing
A young adult, friends-to-lovers romance set in Cape Town. A story about growing up, finding your voice, and learning what love can look like when you finally let yourself be seen.
About
Rushdiyah Narker
I grew up in Lansdowne, Cape Town, and started writing when I realised it was the only way I could make sense of my emotions. I began with poetry, but once I discovered short stories, everything shifted. I found a form that let me explore characters, moments, and quiet inner worlds in a deeper way.
I graduated from UCT at 40 with a degree in English Literature and Anthropology, which opened up a whole new way of thinking about fiction. It taught me how research, memory, and lived experience can work together to build stories.
I’ve always been drawn to romance and slice-of-life tales. I love characters who yearn, who struggle, who try to understand themselves. I’m equally interested in the silences and taboos within the Muslim community, and those questions often find their way into my characters’ thoughts, relationships, and choices.
All of these threads shaped my first novel, Some Unspoken Thing, a coming-of-age, friends-to-lovers romance set in Cape Town.
I’m currently working on my second novel, a standalone sequel following Gadija as she learns herself, leans into her hyper-fixations, navigates colourism in the Muslim community, and discovers the power of using her voice, set in the early 2000s.