General

South by Frank Owen (Corvus) ISBN: 9781782399612 South is set in America sometime in the future. It’s been 30 years since the first wind-borne viruses ended the civil war between North and South, and still the sicknesses come. Every wind from the north brings a new way to die. The few survivors live in constant […]

And other stories – The Caine Prize for African Writings 2016 (Jacana) ISBN: 9781431424351 This collection of short stories by African writers is a mixed bag. Lidudumalingani from South Africa won the 2016 Caine Prize for his story Memories We Lost. I must confess I didn’t agree with the judges’ choice. To me the story

by Gavin Cooper (Mercury) ISBN: 9781928230366 Born in 1926, Wilfred Edward Cooper came from humble beginnings. After attending Wynberg Boys High School where he excelled in sport and academics, he studied Law at Stellenbosch University. HF Verwoerd and JB Vorster were both studying there at the same time. He developed a style that would earn

by Shari Lapena (Bantam Press) ISBN: 9780593077399 How well do you really know the people close to you? The couple next door seems riveting. Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all—a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. Anne suffers from postpartum depression and she has a teenage secret that

by Karin Slaughter (HarperCollins) ISBN: 9781780893570 Will entered, in the midst of a bloody, gory murder scene, after a brief moment of concern for Betty, his small dog, who was having her teeth cleaned, because if the vet was to be believed, you needed to take out a mortgage to pay for the bills associated

by Aravind Adinga (Picador) ISBN 9781509806485 Radha Kumar and his younger brother, Manjunath, live with their controlling and cricket-obsessed father in Bombay. They have one goal in their lives: to be selected for the cricket team, which will bring fame and fortune to the family. There are many role players in this endeavour, who each

by Katherine Graham and Wendy Paterson (Struik Children) ISBN: 9781432306069 This is the first children’s picture book from journalist and fiction writer, Katherine Graham. She was long listed for the Short Story Day Africa competition for her short story, Heaven Scent, in 2013. The Lemon Tree was long listed for the Golden Baobab Prize in

Pleasure: A Novel by Nthikeng Mohlele (Picador Africa) ISBN: 9781770104853 Nthikeng Mohlele is a Johannesburg-based critically acclaimed writer. Pleasure is his fourth novel. Milton Mohlele is a writer who lives in Cape Town. He wiles away time hammering out a novel about pleasure, set in war-time Germany, on his late father’s typewriter. He is haunted by

by SL Grey (Macmillan) ISBN: 9781447266556 After experiencing an armed robbery in their home, Stephanie and Mark are struggling to come to terms with their trauma. They decide to arrange a house-swap with the Petits from France. When they arrive in Paris, they are met with a rude awakening. The apartment is old, dusty and

by Megan Abbott (Picador) ISBN: 9781509817276 Devon is a young, aspiring, and extremely talented gymnast. Her path carefully mapped out by her coach and parents: nationals, the elusive status as an ‘elite gymnast’, and then the dream – the Olympics. Her family have devoted their lives to the pursuit of this dream. Afternoons easily stretch