Roshana Peterson, a science journalist, wants to escape her traumatic past and mundane reality. She's wondering whether she should leave this world on her own terms. Her failed relationship and dwindling mental health lead her to KwaZulu-Natal to meet a man with a story. The man claims to know the origin of an enigmatic cure that eradicated a global pandemic decades ago. Roshana’s journey takes her to an old, rundown house where the curious lives of Dr Igor Evermore and his intern, Bo Bantu, are unravelled.

Bo dreams of prominence in the science world and discovers a cure for The Worm, but Dr Evermore has secrets and a troubled past of his own. Through their gnawing failures and uncanny methodologies, Bo and Dr Evermore make the scientific discovery of a lifetime, sacrificing their friendship and, eventually, their sanity.

A story that delves into the realms of science, death and consciousness to reveal what it means to die and to truly live.

Shadow Play is a powerful novel of subterfuge, betrayal, risk and deep bonds of friendship formed during a time of struggle and pain while a new nation, determined to rise, faces seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

When confronted with his call-up papers for the apartheid army, with his fellow student activists either scattered or in jail, Matthew chooses exile in Europe. In Amsterdam, he reconnects with his friend Oliver, who is studying music there. As he falls into a different rhythm of life, as contented as he is in a loving relationship and a job in a music store, the pull of his homeland never leaves him. When he receives an unexpected call from a former activist comrade, he makes a decision that will put at risk everything he has built in his new life. And when he meets Mandla for the first time, he knows there will be no going back.

For Matthew, the reality of living as a refugee and an immigrant in Europe begins to intrude and with it a new and sometimes disquieting understanding of protest politics and the liberal ideal. For Mandla, directions to a liberated country that were once clear to him and untainted by self-interest and the seduction of power, become blurred at times and increasingly uncomfortable. Both men have to search deep in their hearts when they are asked to make choices that challenge them morally, personally and politically.

(Author Gerald Kraak passed away in 2014. Kraak was in the process of writing Shadow Play when he died, leaving an unfinished draft in the care of his literary executor with the novel evenutally being completed by Alison Lowry).

For the four friends jogging their regular morning route, along the sleepy suburban streets of Fish Hoek, nothing could have warned them of what was to come. Trying to take a short cut and win favour with his taxi boss, a young driver Tshepo Dlamini crashes into one of the runners. As Claire's lifeless body lies crumpled on the ground, Tshepo finds himself trapped in a metal carcass. What's left of his life is turned upside down.

Watching the accident happen, Maureen stands on her balcony and is the only witness. Yet she harbours another dark secret.

To save his life, Tshepo's leg is so badly injured that it must be amputated. Maureen must learn to deal with her husband's addiction and build her own life. No longer the awesome foursome, Tanya, Liz and Kate reframe their friendship without Claire and overcome their fears and inertia. For James, Claire's adoring boyfriend, his life begins to unravel as he wakes to the news that Claire is dead, leaving him to question life as it was and will be.

From shock to acceptance, each chapter is a journey, and as each person tries to move forward with their lives, they must face their mistakes, set against the complex backdrop of small town South Africa. Showing that there is always hope, and that change is inevitable, each character must learn to forgive themselves and others, but for some, the hope of closure may be harder than they thought.

Young Naledi wants to trade her bantu knots for Nonhle Thema’s hair on the Dark and Lovely box. She wishes she looked more like her light-skinned mother too. Ledi grows up in Pimville with her strict grandmother Mama Norah, while her mother, Dineo, is out chasing the blesser lifestyle.

Bantu Knots follows Ledi as she navigates the pressures of her circumstances, womanhood and beauty ideals – and pursues her dreams in spite of it all.

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.

She called herself Silent Anna, because she couldn’t tell anyone about what happened between her and her stepfather. Many years later, Anna breaks the silence to reveal the sexual abuse she suffered, its impact on her life and how she has finally managed to overcome it. This is the story of how she finally spoke out to the world and in court.

This book is a must-read. Not only because it relates a young girl’s determination to survive and to overcome her traumatic childhood, but also because it does so with such sincerity.

Written long before the #metoo movement, this story is still an important one – its relevance highlighted even more now. It’s me, Anna: The Full Story is a special edition to celebrate Women’s month as part of Kwela’s 25th birthday campaign. This omnibus contains both novels: It’s me, Anna and The state vs Anna Bruwer.

Based on a true story.

“Pappa, die sterre is dieselfde hier.”

Milano Kaliempie is Mieta en Hennerik se enigste vlaktekuiken op die plaas Spookwerwe in die dorre Bo-Karoo. Hul buurman, Geelsuiker, leer Milano die geheime van die veld, ook jakkalsjag, en op die werf is dit Mieta wat soggens douvoordag brood inknie en die hartklop van hul bestaan is.

Dis wanneer juffrou Meintjies die dag met haar wit karretjie by die huis aankom, dat die hol kol op Mieta se maag kom sit. Want Milano was dan net die een dag laat vir skool. Maar juffrou Meintjies het ander nuus. Dis Geelsuiker wat raad gee:

“Jy moet nou gaan doen wat die regte ding is, Mieta. Daardie klong,” en hy wys na waar Milano die perd inspan, “vat nou die grootpad. Moenie hom in ’n klein kampie ingekeer hou nie.”

Die kinders van Spookwerwe is ’n roman wat soos die vaal stof van die Bo-Karoo oral inkruipplek kry en diep in jou hart kom lê. Dis ’n roman oor ma-wees, oor grootword, en oor verliese. Maar ook van weer vol word.

Henok kry ’n verrassing wanneer sy vrou in Israel kom kuier. Re’uven se pyn oor sy eersgeborene se dood lê nog vlak. Dit laat Marc wonder of hy Adonai nog sal kan liefhê as dit hom sou tref. Hy voel verskeur tussen sy gesin en sy ma met haar eie hartseer in Suid-Afrika. Tog vind hy troos in die wete dat Adonai se weë ver bo ons verstand verhewe is.

When the taxi Mandy is riding in runs out of petrol, she and her companion are stranded alongside a country road with their fellow passengers, all of whom are Zulu.

While they wait for help, friendships develop as they share problems and stories and Mandy finds herself drawn to 8-year-old Jabulani, an AIDS orphan. She determines to help the boy, but what she proposes to do is not an easy road to follow; she faces legal and logistical problems, and much opposition.

There is one person who supports her though, a lawyer whom she meets in Durban. Meeting him adds to her dilemma and she is torn by conflicting loyalties.

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.

Indulge in a chilling feast--a gastronomic journey into the darkest corners of the mind.

With a masterful blend of psychological depth and sensory detail, N Gray presents a menu of four tantalizing tales that will leave you both unsettled and satisfied. Each story is a unique dish crafted to challenge perceptions and immerse the reader in obsession, discovery and death, proving that the truth can be far more disturbing than the unknown.

An irresistible invitation to the darker aspects of the human experience, one bite at a time. Just remember, every course comes at a price.

Spanning from present day until the near future, this novel tells the story of three men facing the rapid unravelling of their world, due to cataclysmic climate collapse.

Luthando’s environmental activism leads to a clash with the government. His life partner, Viwe, becomes embroiled in religious end-of-days fanaticism. And their friend Malcolm worries that his work in biotech augmentation will be used for sinister purposes.

A story about resilience and our capacity for love in the face of fear.

Thirteen year old James Clarke is always being picked on in school. He hates sports, and he particularly hates Stingers, a schoolyard game in which children throw tennis balls at each other. The other kids always seem to throw the ball harder, when it's at him.

His physical education teacher, Mr Evans, has no sympathy for the boy, believing he just needs to toughen up a bit. When James returns home from school after a rough game of Stingers, his mother is mortified when she sees the bruises on his arm and chest. She phones the school to try and put a stop to the cruel bullying of her son. But her phone call only makes things worse, as the bullying escalates to levels that nobody imagined possible.

Magdaleen Verster probeer die stukke van haar lewe optel na die dood van haar tweelingsuster, Misha. Wanneer sy ’n onwaarskynlike vriendskap smee met haar eksentrieke buurman, die wetenskaplike Darius Achenbach, bevind sy haar in die opwindende maar omstrede wêreld van stamselnavorsing.

Asof Misha haar aksies vanuit die dood rig, vind gematigde Magdaleen dat sy skielik bereid is om groot risiko’s te neem. Sy kan haar suster nie terugbring nie, tog kan sy moontlik ’n verskil aan ander se lewens maak. Wat begin as ’n onbaatsugtige projek, vang haar gou vas in geheime bedrywighede waarvan sy min verstaan. Wie is so angstig om Darius se navorsing te ontspoor? Of wil hulle dit dalk vir hulself toeëien?

Alles kom teen ’n prys. En soms is die prys van een mens se lewe ’n ander mens se dood.

‘What are you thinking about?’
‘I think I might have killed someone’

How far would you go to protect the ones you love?

Two car accidents take place on the same night, on the same stretch of twisting valley road. One is fatal, and six friends’ lives will never be the same. Only two of them know what really happened that night – and one will stop at nothing to get to the truth.

When your life is on the line, who can you really trust?

The SMS said, ‘don’t look for me’. I died right there. MaZwane, please no matter what happens, we can fight until we mutilate each other but do not leave me. Anelisa, I hope you have spoken to her seriously. We are married, we don’t leave each other. We stay for better or for worse, through thick and thin. The three of us do not part ways no matter what caused the misunderstanding. They both look at me attentively, I can’t be more serious than this.

Op die oog af is dié roman ’n storie oor ’n goeie dokter en ’n slegte polisieman. Want ’n bosluisbyt aan die polisieman Frans Schuin lei onverwags tot ’n tydperk van verwarring by die plattelandse dokter Gustav van Aardt. Van Aardt is een van die volrondste personasies wat in baie jare in ’n Afrikaanse roman na vore getree het, en wat so heerlik is van sy uitbeelding is dat hy so nugter as ’n feilbare, onsekere volwassene geskets word. Die leser sien deur Van Aardt se oë - maar soos ons mettertyd agterkom, is daar nie werklik uitsluitsel oor die dinge wát hy sien nie. Is dit drogbeelde of werklike visuele waarnemings? En gaan hy mettertyd vrede maak met sy plek op die aarde?

Die titel van dié fassinerende roman deur die skrywer van Kamphoer kan op baie dinge slaan; onder meer op die verlies van alle sekerheid, selfs op die kleinste vlak. Dit sê eindelik baie oor die transformasie wat Suid-Afrika besig is om te ondergaan, uit die oogpunt van ’n hoogs gekultiveerde wit man.  

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.