1994. The world is about to change. The first truly democratic election in South Africa’s history is about to unite Nelson Mandela’s rainbow nation at the ballot box. And, across the world, those in exile, those who could not return home, those who would not return home, wait. Watch and wait . . .

London. Martin O’Malley isn’t one of those watching and waiting. He is too busy trying to figure out if Germaine Spencer really is the girl for him and why his best friend is intent on ruining every relationship he gets involved in. And then . . . And then Germaine is pregnant and suddenly the world really has changed for Martin O’Malley.

South Africa. A land of opportunity. A place where a young black man with an MSc from the London School of Economics could have it all, would have it all. But what does Martin O’Malley, London born and bred with an Irish surname, really know about his mother’s country? His motherland. A land he has never seen.

Naa muthu u langula hani tshileme tsha ifa, ngeno a si na zwikili zwa u ita zwivhuya zwe khotsi awe vha sia?

Davha ­la Maviavhathu ndi bugu i vha kombetshedzaho u vhala ine vhabvumbedzwa vhayo a vha tou vha zwine vha ambelwa zwone. Vho ­diimisela kha ndingo dzavho nga – u sa fushea, vhufhura, tshand­a nguvhoni na mabulayo nga mishonga – uri vha bvelele. Fhedzi, hone aya maitele a a sumbedzisa zwiitisi magumoni azwo?

In a village in Venda, Thandeka has a chance encounter with a business tycoon that offers her the words of comfort she has been longing to hear. They don’t exchange names but she is shocked to learn from a friend that he is a serial womaniser. Gundo is delighted when the beautiful woman he met in Venda shows up as a cleaner at his company in Johannesburg. He would love to get to know Thandeka better. He doesn’t realise that she has been misinformed about his identity and his intentions . . .

Duma is at a cross roads in life. Living in an informal settlement in Soweto with his father and young sister, Duma is expected to make a contribution to the household since he does not work. The easy way has been to steal electricity cables. But when his friend gets caught, Duma decides to try a new way of life. The road to a new beginning does not come easy as he goes back to the canoe club at Power Park and he quickly learns that paddling a canoe is not as easy as he remembered. He finds himself drawn to the water and is inspired by Steve an experienced paddler who is determined and pushes himself but lately the gold has been out of reach. Duma goes out on a limb and asks Steve if they can train together for the Dusi. Will Duma and Steve's partnership in the water work out? This is an inspirational story of two men from different backgrounds, coming together to tell their story.

A pianist falls grandly, helplessly in love in this elegant new novella from the twice-Booker Prize winner.

The Pole tells the story of Witold Walczykiewicz, a vigorous, white-haired pianist who becomes infatuated with Beatriz, a stylish patron of the arts, after she helps organize his Barcelona concert.

Although Beatriz, who is married, is initially unimpressed by Wittold, she soon finds herself pursued and ineluctably swept into his world. As he sends her letters, extends countless invitations to travel, and even visits her husband's summer home in Mallorca, their unlikely relationship blossoms, though only on her terms.

As the power struggle between them intensifies -- Is it Beatriz who limits their passion by controlling her emotions? Or is it Witold, trying to force into life his dream of love?

Kgosi e e pelomaswe Gabankitse, e tsenya baagi ba motse wa Letlepung tsebetsebe.

Tota ba tlaa tshabela kae puso ya gagwe ya letsogo la tshipi mmogo le kgatelelo e e kanakana?

A mme gona mosimanyana Marang o tlaa gola le go tlhogola go okama setulo sa gagwe sa bogosi le go busetsa morafe mo maemong a ona a pele?

Molayakgosi o emisa mmuisi ka ditsetsekwane, a lwela gore tshiamo e hupetse bosula le gore go rene kagiso boemong jwa kgatelelo.

In the small rural town of Qonda, South Africa, the power and water supplies are unreliable, property prices are down, and citizens are slowly suffocating in the acrid smoke from the municipal dump. Recently retired English teacher Megan Merton has lived here all her life, most of it at No. 8 Serpent Crescent. So who better than this self-styled pillar of society to shine a spotlight on the decline and dysfunction, not to mention the dubious activities, past and present, of many of her neighbours.

Nefarious deeds and bad behaviour deserve harsh treatment and appropriate retribution, if not consignment to one of Dante’s fiendish nine circles of hell. At least that’s what Megan believes – in fact she’s been taking matters into her own hands, unnoticed, for years. And now she has decided to write it all down, to shake all of the skeletons loose, and rejoice in the inventive punishments she devised and personally delivered to the wicked.

Then her neighbour Elizabeth Cardew, a lecturer in Classical Studies, suffers a stroke and Megan is entrusted with the keys to No. 9. While Elizabeth begins a long recovery at the local care facility, Whispering Pines, Megan relishes the chance to snoop. Curious as to ‘what a stroke victim looks like’, she decides to visit and see for herself. A bond develops between the two women – one a cold and calculating sociopath, the other a courageous and lonely academic – something that takes both of them by surprise.

Vivian de Klerk’s sharp observations and brilliantly acerbic satirical wit make this multi-layered novel at once horrifying, shocking and poignant – and very, very funny.

Born on the cusp of democracy, the crew of young friends in Born Freeloaders navigates a life of drinking, wild parties and other recklessness. The siblings at the centre of the novel, Nthabiseng and Xolani, have been raised in an upper middle-class family with connections to the political elite. Nthabiseng is lauded by her peers as she whimsically goes through life, unable to form her own identity in a world that expects her to pick a side in the fractured classifications of race.

Xolani, not having known his late father, longs for acceptance from an uncle who sees him and his generation as the bitter fruit borne of a freedom he and countless others fought for. As the story moves across multiple spaces in the nation’s capital over a weekend, Born Freeloaders captures a political and cultural moment in the city’s and South Africa’s history. Interwoven is an analogous tale of the country’s colonisation and the consequences that follow.

And alongside the friends’ uneasy awareness of their privilege is a heightened sense of discomfort at their inability to change the world they were born into.

Geboortereg se tema handel oor die feit dat elke baba die reg het tot ouers, twee oumas en oupas. Ruan die hoofkarakter se grootouers aan vaderskant weier om hom te aanvaar as hul kleinkind. Ruan word groot by sy ma en haar man, wat nie die grootouers se seun is nie.

Albei sy ouers sterf. Ruan ontmoet twee vroue tot wie hy aangetrokke voel. Die verhaal stel die leser bekend aan die families en stories van die twee vroue.

Die boek is geskik vir manlike en vroulike lesers.

Cape Town lawyer Peter Truman struggling to care for his wife, who is recovering from cancer, and be a father to their daughter, agrees to hire an au pair.

In London, surgeon Carl Kleinhans faces a moral dilemma.

Should he perform a risky living donor liver transplant on a patient with a history of alcoholism? Especially when this patient is relying on his estranged Trinidadian son to be the donor? And what of Carl’s own dark past that is threatening to sink his relationship? Meanwhile, at Carl’s childhood home in South Africa, young Promise becomes aware of things spoken of in hushed tones.

A sweeping story of betrayal, secrets, hope and healing.

Gert Garries: ’n Baaisiekel-babelas word in 2002 by die KKNK opgevoer en gee vleis aan ’n karakter uit Etienne Leroux se roman Magersfontein, O Magersfontein! Die plaaswerker Gert Garries ry vir drie dae met die verbrande liggaam van sy kind op sy fiets rond. Hy wil ’n doodsertifikaat bekom, ’n voorvereiste voordat hy die kind kan begrawe. Weens sy velkleur word hy egter deur die burokrate van bakboord na stuurboord gestuur. Na sy ontmoeting met Le Grange, ’n empatiese verkeersbeampte, ontstaan ’n sonderlinge verhouding tussen hulle. Hierdie verhouding suggereer ’n beter toekoms en menslike identiteit vir Gert, terwyl die kind simbool word van ’n bitter en wrang verlede. Eindelik begrawe Gert sy kind saam met die room van die Engelse.

Die gehoor volg Gert Garries op sy drie dae lange fietsrit en beleef saam met hom ’n prutpot van emosies.

Die drama word gepubliseer in 2019 as Gert Garries: ‘n Baaisiekel-blues.

Met hierdie klassieke verhaal oor die lewe van ’n mossiegemeenskap skep Hickey ’n werk vir oud en jonk. Kuif Kwaster en sy familie – ’n voorbeeldige en vername mossiegesin in die bodorp – neem die leser op ’n reis wat nie vir mense beskore is nie. Saam met Skeel At en Kuif verdedig lesers die mossie-eer teen die wraaksugtige en rebelse Beatnik-bende; en saam met Meks en Maja word daar vir die mannetjies in die bodorp flikkers gegooi.

Oor die ontstaan van hierdie uitmuntende werk skryf Hickey: “Gedurende April 1961 het ek by my skryftafel gesit. Deur die oop venster kyk ek na die doen en late van ’n elftal mossies. Hulle is bra baie vir ’n enkele gesin, maar daar is tog ’n intimiteit wat die indruk skep dat hulle meer is as terloopse kennisse.

Die groepie is verteenwoordigend van enige gemeenskap (daardie vaal, verkeerdeveer-wyfietjie lyk juis soos ’n skinderbek!) met die goeies en die minder goeies …”

Die sukses van hierdie eiesoortige werk kan gemeet word aan die feit dat die boek vanaf 1961 drie-en-twintig keer herdruk is.

The first book of the Many Shallows series.

For a year, Felice had lived in the rundown house on the hill. She had moved there when her mother unexpectedly decided to remarry. Felice had never had a father, Frank would be her first. Shy and secretive, she wants nothing more than to be invisible, to be left alone to explore the strange forest that surrounds her new home. A tragic turn of events brings Felice and Frank closer together, but still she is drawn to the forest and its promise of freedom.

Many Shallows reimagines the lives and afterlives of Franz Kafka’s three great loves: Felice, Milena, and Dora. Rather than side notes in the famous writer’s life or vehicles for his desire, these women are reincarnated as the protagonists of their own surreal, macabre worlds. Felice is the protagonist in The Well, the first book in the Many Shallows series. The Well explores complex themes of social anxiety, loss and early sexual experiences.

Originally released in October 2020, shortlisted for the 2021 UJ Literary Award and now available in paperback b-format.

Meet the Mafus, a close-knit, traditional family with three daughters. As leaders of their church, The Kingdom of God, Pastor Abraham and his wife Phumla are guiding the community of Bulawayo in faith, while trying to keep the different branches of their family intact. Independent and feisty Xoliswa returns home, after a hiatus abroad, hoping for a fresh start and a chance to steer the family business; rebellious Yandisa has met the love of her life and is finally getting her act together; while dutiful newlywed Zandile is slowly becoming disillusioned with her happily ever after.

The Mafus always present a united front, but as their personal lives unravel, devastating secrets are revealed that threaten to tear the family apart. For how long will they be able to hide behind the façade of a picture-perfect family?

Painter Nick Steyn moves to Cape Town after separating from his partner. A young boarder moves in and they soon become friends. But one night she does not come home, and his attempts to trace her come to nothing. Could Nick’s former friend, Victor Schoeman, the author of the outrageous novel The Shallows, have a hand in them? A fantastical, absurd yet haunting novel by the award-winning novelist Ingrid Winterbach. Translated as always by Michiel Heyns.

Wat Frederik de Jager se verhale uniek maak, is die feit dat dit om mense sentreer, dat dit fyngetekende portretstudies is.

Of dit nou Jan Rabie, die enigste dogtertjie op ’n seunskoolbus, Mal Marina die klawerkoningin is of die seun op die speelgrond wat so stip kon kyk, of sy laerskoolvriend die aksieheld, dis karakters waarmee elke leser kan vereenselwig. Soms is die onderwerp die skrywer self, die skaam seun wat Sartre se selfbewustheid as bewustheid verstaan, die een wat weier om die klavierspelende sissie te wees. Die skryfwerk is dus tydloos en universeel.

De Jager het ’n fyn oog en ’n slag met die woord. Soos Dana Snyman kan hy ’n emotiewe snaar raaktokkel en nostalgie opwek. De Jager is egter eerder prosaïs as volksverteller. Hierdie verhale is raak woordprente wat die uitsonderlikheid van gewone mense vasvang, met deernis, humor en ’n skeut hartseer - Op een na het al hierdie stukke verskyn in die tydskrif Vrouekeur van 2015 tot met die sluiting daarvan in 2020, as aflewerings in die rubriek “Mense onderweg”. Die laaste, langer stuk was ook in Vrouekeur, maar as alleenstaande artikel.

Ravaged Souls follows the lives of four friends.

Luxolo and Vuyolwethu Ndamase are childhood sweethearts and are happily married until they lose their only son to an accident caused by Vuyo. From there life changes for them as they deal with their grief and loss, finding comfort outside their union.

Lubabalo Sobukwe is a pastor’s kid hiding his sexuality from his family and close friends. He lives a lie until he meets Ryan Cook and falls madly in love. He now has to decide whether to keep living the lie and jeopardise his chance at happiness or own his truth and risks killing his father and losing his family. Ryan on the other side still battles with scars of being abandoned and disowned by his family for his sexuality. He also has to deal with lies about his paternity. He has found a sense of belonging with Lubabalo but can he risk his mental health and give him a chance.

‘n Spanningsverhaal wat afspeel op ’n afgeleë plaas in Limpopo se Waterberg-distrik.

Adriaan Botha is angstig oor misdaad in Suid-Afrika en moedeloos oor sy loopbaan as argitek. Hy besluit om die land te verlaat, maar stel sy plan uit om eers ʼn belangrike projek te voltooi. Terwyl hy daarmee besig is, erf hy uit die bloute ’n plaas by sy oupa wat hy nooit geken het nie. Hy sukkel nog om dié nuus te verwerk, toe ’n insident met die kliënt se vrou hom dwing om die stad inderhaas te verlaat. Vergesel deur sy geliefde hond gaan skuil hy op die plaas.

Onderwyl Adriaan wag vir die stof om te gaan lê, wik en weeg hy om die plaas te verkoop - hy is immers oppad landuit! Maar spoedig raak hy al vaster verstrik deur ’n sameloop van gebeure. Alles begin toe hy ‘n reuse-swartmamba in die veld raakloop, want wat daarna gebeur, is ‘n tuimeltreinrit vol interessante karakters en onverwagse gebeure. As hy maar net vroeër rigti ng gekry het! Hoe de hel gaan hy lewend hier uitkom?

Sekondêre temas van belang is ekologiese aangeleenthede, kultuurhistoriese kwessies binne rasverband en geleentheid vir versoening. Die teenwoordigheid van die legendariese mamba vorm ʼn belangrike simbool in die verhaal.

Mamba is ’n roman wat die leser gaan oorrompel en enduit geboei gaan hou.

Nandi Nxumalo and Femi Adewoye are in love. But although the ladies at Nandi’s favourite hair salon drool over her tall, dark and super handsome boyfriend who has his own auto repair shop, there are others in her community who are less pleased that she, a Zulu woman, has fallen for a ‘foreigner’.

Nandi has to hide her relationship with her Nigerian boyfriend from her xenophobic father who would never allow them to date. But Femi is serious about her and wants to meet her parents. She is afraid of what her father might do when she introduces them. On the other hand, she doesn’t want to lose Femi. His ex-girlfriend Chichi is already trying to come between them.

When xenophobic attacks break out all over the country, Nandi and Femi do not escape unaffected. Nandi feels she has to do something – she can no longer be silent.

Na vele mislukte verhoudings, staan privaatspeurder Willem Vasbyt Loriet uiteindelik op trou.

Dankbaar dat hy die groot stao kan neem viirdat hy 40 is, pak hy die taak aan om van seker aandenkings ontslae te raak. Dan gebeur daar skielik 'n klompie dinge bykans tegelyk.

Hy sien 'n man raak wat hy nie kan plaas nie, maar glo dis ;n skelm wat hy tevore teëgekom het en wil hom graag identifiseer en weer ondersoek.

True Love­ e ratwa kudu! Ziggy D o tumile ka nakwana – go kwagala morethetho fela diyalemoyeng gomme e galagala le diphatlalatšing tša segwera.

Efela katlego ye kgolo e tla le sekgopi, kgononelo le lonya. Le ge a lebane le kotsi, Ziggy D o gapeletšega go šireletša bokgabo bja gagwe le seriti sa gagwe le go lemoga gore tshepagalo e a šomelwa.

Dit is my storie, maar dit is ook die storie van elke ouer wat al 'n keer gestruikel het," se Saskia de Coster by geleentheid oor Nagouers. De Coster (1976 - ) is 'n prominente figuur in die hedendaagse Vlaamse prosa. Danksy haar optrede by verskillende kunstefeeste is sy geen onbekende in Suid-Afrika nie. Nachtouders (2019) is intussen reeds in meer as tien tale vertaal. Dit is die verhaal van "nie-biologiese ouerskap" waarby die sielkundige spanning uiteindelik maar te herkenbaar sal wees vir ook diegene wat al met "biologiese ouerskap" gekonfronteer is. Saskia word onder verswee teensinnigheid moeder saam met haar groot liefde en eggenote, Juli. Laasgenoemde dring daarop aan om 'n eie kind in die wereld te bring. Vervolgens raak 'n skenker betrokke, Karl, 'n Kanadese homo- vriend van Saskia. Terwyl die skenkerproses self nie sonder moeite en selfs skaterende humor verloop nie, raak duidelik dat dit ondanks die kliniese aard daarvan nogtans die individuele agtergrond van elk van die betrokkenes op die spel bring. Sake word op die spits gedryf wanneer die gesinn etjie Karl se moeder op die eiland Portes aan die Kanadese Weskus besoek, 'n van die moderne wereld afgeslote plek bewoon deur 'n vergrysende hippie-gemeenskap en 'n afkerige Indiane-groep. Ouerskap, liefde en die stryd om individuele lewensruimte bly onderliggend aan die gebeure met alle eienskappe van 'n riller. Hoewel die hooffiguur ook Saskia heet en die boek eienskappe van 'n ego-dokument het, is dit 'n meesleurende roman wat uitnooi tot 'n besondere leeservaring.

Much-maligned blogger Jacob Lynch, aka Brodie Lomax, has been called many things: Professional douchebag, The king of fratire, Tabloid Maverick, Mr Misogyny, Revenge porn Romeo, That sex-tape guy and Assholepreneur. And now he can add 'Multi-millionaire' to that list. With the renewal of his reality TV show as well as his eight-figure book deal, life is good for New York's most notorious blogger.

But he's suffering from a serious bout of writer's block, and the distractions of endless parties, drugs and meaningless sex are not helping. Trapped within his life of excess, he is teetering on the edge, the next stop: rehab. So Jacob flees the city for an isolated hunting lodge in Alaska where he can focus on getting his manuscript done, once and for all. When the mysterious beautiful Alicia unexpectedly emerges from the icy landscape, he knows he shouldn't invite her in, but pretty young things have always been his greatest weakness.

The next day Jacob wakes up chained to a bed, and that's when things take a turn for the terrifying.

How do stories begin, and why? What are the conditions for writing fiction? Need, compulsion, a listener, opportunity, rhetoric …

In The Snow Sleeper, the art and meaning of storytelling is illuminated in four magically interwoven tales of friendship. In each, a narrator’s narrow vision is gradually broadened and transformed into piercing self-knowledge.

“The Swan Whisperer”: A creative writing lecturer receives a series of bizarre missives from an eccentric student, which bring into question her most dearly held literary convictions.

“The Percussionist”: At his best friend’s funeral, a clockmaker delivers a eulogy that, in recalling the writer’s voyeuristic obsessions, explores the nature of love and friendship.

“The Snow Sleeper”: A fieldworker interviewing the homeless is confronted with her own grief by a most articulate and charismatic vagrant.

“The Friend”: The confidante of a famous photographer acknowledges her role in his decline. A story that resonates with the interplay of the artistic and political in South Africa today.

These characters, all alter egos, are linked each to the other in strange, recurring loops, drawing the reader into the depths of a beautiful snowstorm.