Art-school dropout Kendra brands herself for a nanotech marketing program; Lerato, an ambitious Aids baby, plots to defect from her corporate employers; Tendeka, a hot-headed activist, is becoming increasingly rabid; and rogueish blogger, Toby, discovers that the video games he plays for cash are much more - the narrators of Moxyland are on a collision course that will rewire their lives and the future of Cape Town. Moxyland crackles with bold and infectious ideas, connecting a ruthless corporate-apartheid government with video games, biotech attack dogs, slippery online identities, a township soccer school, shocking cellphones, addictive branding, and genetically modified art.

A farmhouse is being reproduced a dozen times, with slight variations, throughout a valley. Three small graves have been dug in the front garden, the middle one lying empty. A woman in a wheelchair sorts through boxes while her husband clambers around the old demolished buildings, wondering where the animals have gone. A young woman - called 'the barren one' behind her back - dreams of love, while an ageing headmaster contemplates the end of his life. At the entrance to the long dirt driveway, a car appears and pauses - pointed towards the house like a silver bullet, ticking with heat.

So begins The Dream House, Craig Higginson's riveting and unforgettable novel set in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal. Written with dark wit, a stark poetic style and extraordinary tenderness, this is a story about the state of a nation and a deep meditation on memory, ageing, meaning, family, love and loss.

This updated 2016 edition contains new content, with Craig Higginson exploring the background to The Dream House, his varied experiences in a farmhouse in KwaZulu-Natal and the subsequent and poignant motivations for this moving novel.

Meet Tannie Maria: the loveable writer of recipes in her local paper, the Klein Karoo Gazette.

One Sunday morning, as Maria stirs apricot jam, she hears her editor Harriet on the stoep. What Maria doesn't realise is that Harriet is about to deliver a whole basketful of challenges and the first ingredient in two new recipes - recipes for love and murder.

A delicious blend of intrigue, milk tart and friendship, join Tannie Maria in her first investigation. Consider your appetite whetted for a whole new series of mysteries . . .

Incwadi esihloko sithi Umlungu Omnyama inoveli yokuqala yalo mbhali kodwa eseyihlomule ngendondo, ikhuluma ngokukhula njengengane ensundu endaweni ebuswa abamhlophe nezimfundiso zabo. Ilandisa ngamantombazane amabili asemancane aphila ezindaweni zasesilungwini eGoli, efunda ezikoleni ezizimele zakobelungu enabangani abamhlophe. U-Ofilwe ovela ekhaya elinothile futhi okhula ephathiswe okweqanda ubekuthatha kalula konke lokhu akhule enakho kanti manje kufanele abhekane nomshophi wokukhula engenasisekelo samasiko, umhlaba aphila kuwona ubonakala ungenamongo futhi untengantenga. Ngakolunye uhlangothi sibona uFiks, oyintombazane ezithandela izinto futhi ezikhulumelayo, ungumuntu oshabashekela impumelelo.

futhi olangazelele ukufulathela imuva lakhe elinesihluku aye empilweni yasedolobheni yobukhazikhazi, kodwa le mpilo entsha uyithola inzinyana futhi ingenasihe nokwehlukile kulokho abekulindele. Okulangazelelwe yilaba besifazane abasebancane ukuthuthuka nokuthandeka, kodwa okubaluleke kunakho konke ukuthola ukwamukeleka. Ukwamukeleka, empeleni, kutholakala ngokuba udele konke okukwenza ube umuntu omnyama – osamlungu kakhulu ukuba angahlala nabamnyama, futhi omnyama kakhulu ukuba angahlala nabamhlophe

In her debut collection of short stories, Lindiwe Nkutha takes us through the minds of people you may overlook on an ordinary day: The wayward neighbour you vaguely remember seeing every day as a child until the day he vanished. The face you see every weekend at the local drinking hole, you exchange a polite nod but know little about, not even her name. The young woman who is caught between her faith and her love for a woman. Their lives are untidy, tainted with the pain, joy and violence as they share with us stories they wouldn't share with anyone else.

Nkutha's words weave in and around the weights we drag behind us from one place to another, with a sensitivity and wit required for such vulnerabilities and intimate moments.

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.     

The Five Firm Friends – Edith, Cordelia, Amanda, Doris and Beauty – are five sassy career women who confront life head- on. But when Beauty suddenly becomes ill and, after six short weeks, passes away, their world is thrown into confusion. On her deathbed Beauty begs Amanda to promise her one thing – that she and the rest of the FFF will not waste their lives as she has done. All because of an unfaithful husband ... ‘Ukhule,’ she begs of Amanda. May you live a long life, and may you become old.

Beauty’s Gift is a moving tale of how four women decide to change their own fate as well as the lives of those closest to them. This is Sindiwe Magona at her very best – writing about social issues, and not keeping quiet. Speak up, she says to women in Africa. Stand up, and take control of your own lives.

And they didn't die dramatises the heroism of Jezile, a young rural woman. Her story also depicts the emergence of collective resistance by rural women in South Africa of the 1950s and 60s. Above all it is a story of redemption in the strength and vitality of one woman who will not allow intense suffering to deplete her humanity. The author draws upon her relationship with the 'very strong, very proud' women who raised her and her knowledge of their history to create a novel that is sensitive, human and political.

Die dag toe Pappie die kaleidoskoop stukkend gekap het, het ’n paar van die gekleurde skywe ver weggespat en in die lang gras gaan skuil. Later, nadat die ouman weg was poskantoor toe, het hy die stukkies gaan bymekaar maak – ’n paar geles, ’n mooi groene en ’n klompie bloues en perses. Die res was gewone spieëltjies en hy het net ’n paar daarvan opgetel. Maar daar was bitter min van sy droom oor.

Hy voel die hitte van daardie dag se woede deur hom spoel. Sien weer die arend teen die lug draai en die skelm blink van die paar stukkies glas in die lang gras. Dan ontspan hy. Sy lewe was nooit heel nie. Altyd in stukke. Tronk was sy voorland – soos Pa voorspel het …

NOU gaan Schoeman huis toe.

MAAR sal hy nou die liefde en aanvaarding kry waarna hy smag, of sal hy steeds nie goed genoeg wees nie …?

KALEIDOSKOOP is ‘n historiese roman wat die verhaal van Schoeman en sy familielede vertel. Die besonderse verhaal van lief en leed sal jou as kieskeurige leser enduit boei.

The sun begins to set and twilight falls over the Cape Town suburb of Salt River. The year is 1960, the year of the Sharpeville massacre. Three friends, Ainey, Haroun and Cassius, comrades in arms and merry pranksters, make a discovery that changes their lives. Mired in their troubled families, they valiantly struggle through their childhood. With the help of a mysterious yet powerful woman they confront an awful truth that forever changes their lives…

The prologue of By The Fading Light sets up the story by an unidentified narrator who, it is later discovered, is one of the three main characters, now grown up, reflecting on the past. A young boy, Amin Gabriels, disappears, an event that creates fear and anxiety in the community, especially for his friends, the main characters, who are three eleven-year-old boys, Ainey, Haroun and Cassius.

The boys’ adventures offer a poignant, compelling but also humorous glimpse into the world from their youthful perspectives. Ainey lives with his fussy grandmother and his authoritarian father who blames him for his mother’s death. Haroun lives with his depressed mother and bigamist father. Cassius lives with his sister and snobbish mother who wishes that she were white. Through these and other minor characters, a mysterious yet powerful older woman, a police officer, and a murderer, the reader encounters a spirited and robust community.

With its elements of historical fiction, literary realism and absurdist humour, By The Fading Light weaves together themes of troubled families, vibrant Muslim culture, South African politics, the resilience of children, loss of innocence and coming of age.

If only a young boy had not taken the long way home on a cold winter’s day. If only he had gone straight home, things might have been different. But he did not, and events in the tight-knit community of Salt River take a turn that inspire fear…

In a moment of weakness, lawyer Ian Brand sends out a tweet; it changes his life irrevocably. Thuli Khumalo, Fallist leader on a campus that stinks of petrol and teargas, must choose between betraying her father and forsaking her principles. Snaar Windvogel, once the little violin girl of Matjiesfontein, is now in transition under the knife of Piekenier Leqluerck, plastic surgeon and fossa impresario.

These colourful characters populate a carnivalesque landscape where the only certainty is that the Mother City’s mysterious crossbow killer will strike again . . . while Twitter gangs spread suspicion, truck drivers are attacked on national roads, and Number One meets with gang leaders – all under the watchful eye of the Institute for Encouragement in a nameless city in China.

An astonishing novel documenting the turbulent time in which we live, where issues such as privacy and identity, fake news and fact, and race and ethnicity inflame passions.

Translated by Henrietta RoseInnes.

A single moment can change a life forever… A van full of men armed with AK47s is stopped by two policemen while driving through Bethlehem in the Free State. They open fire on the policemen and, from that moment, their lives are irrevocably changed. So to for Fusi Mofokeng, resident of Bethlehem, who was not at the scene of the crime but was the brother-in-law of one of the perpetrators. He is accused of being an accomplice and tried, sentenced and jailed.

Nineteen years later, in 2011, Fusi is released into a world that has changed beyond recognition, a world in which his mother, father and brother have all died. Throughout his incarceration he fought for his release, appearing before the TRC, and schooling himself in law. Even today, he seeks a presidential pardon.

It is to this life that award-winning author Jonny Steinberg turns his attention in One Day in Bethlehem. In examining the life and struggle of Fusi Mofokeng, Steinberg shines a searing light on the burden of the 'everyman' in his quest for justice. In doing so, he also captures a country as it violently sheds the skin of the past to emerge, blinking, into the modern era.

A Big Hand For The Spirits explores the space where science, religion and magic come together – where the world behaves in ways that are at once absolutely normal but also utterly amazing.

An ecologist on the run from a hit man joins up with a brilliant physicist struggling to reconcile his traditional African beliefs with science, an anaesthetist dealing with a bad marriage, a physically powerful, but emotionally distraught river guide, and an enigmatic recovering drug addict who alternates wildly between reality and fantasy.

Together they travel overland from Vic Falls to Malawi, encountering many adventures, some intellectual, some fun, and some downright terrifying.

As they explore the power of their individual and collective unconscious, they discover that they are connected in unexpected ways and, through means both mystical and prosaic, work together to survive and achieve each other’s goals.

The action, which includes wild white water rafting, tracking elephants, dabbling in witchcraft, catching snakes and learning to dive, mirrors the characters’ exploration of the nature of reality, time and truth – and whether there are, in fact, only three thousand people in the world. The climax on the edge of Lake Malawi revolves around a dramatic performance of the Gule Wamkulu spirit dancers that may – or may not – be instrumental in bringing it all together.

Jock of the Bushveld is the classic and much-loved story based on the true experiences of Sir Percy Fitzpatrick and his Staffordshire bull terrier, Jock. The story begins in the 1880s, at the time of the South African gold rush, when a young Fitzpatrick worked as an ox-wagon transport rider in the old Transvaal. There he came across a man who was in the process of drowning a puppy, the runt of the litter. He saved the dog and the story of his ever-faithful and loving companion was born.

First published in 1907, Jock of the Bushveld has been reprinted many times since. Now, with a fresh and engaging cover, and in a new handy B-format, this timeless South African classic retains the charm of the original story along with the original illustrations by Edmund Caldwell.

It will no doubt continue to be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

Reisgenote bevat ʼn keur uit die kortverhaalbundel, Die reisgenoot, wat oorspronklik in 2013 ingedien is as kreatiewe komponent van ʼn meestersgraadstudie aan die Universiteit van die Vrystaat (onder leiding van prof HP van Coller).

As simboliese “reisgenote” is enkele gedigte getoonset wat tematies aansluit by Joanita se eie verhale. Die “reisgenote” is tematies van aard, maar ook in die gesprek tussen tekste, musikale werke en die kunstenaars wat betrokke was by die projek.

Wouter Wessels praktiseer as prokureur vanuit ’n omskepte woonhuis in ‘n voorstad van Pretoria. Na ‘n reeks terugslae in sy lewe, is beide sy regsloopbaan en persoonlike lewe weer besig om op koers te kom. Totdat daar op ’n gewone werksdag ‘n skynbaar gewone klient by sy praktyk instap.

Sy het egter nie die deursnee regsprobleem nie. Nadat hy haar begin bystaan, kom hy onverwags op ’n katnes van bedrog en swendelary af waarby hooggeplaastes en invloedrykes betrokke is. Skielik bars alle hel rondom hom los en sy lewe is in gevaar.

Hy betrek spoedig ’n vriendin, wat ’n joernalis by ’n dagblad is, asook ’n eksentrieke forensiese wetenskaplike om hom by te staan om dié bedrogspul te probeer ontrafel. Hy het egter nie die luukse van tyd nie, en boonop verdwyn sy sleutelgetuie skielik spoorloos.

A page turning, gender and genre-bending novel set on the Cape Flats; a story of people who live in a place of violence which involves drugs, corrupt clergy, queerness, friendships - and how these survive in a society that is dysfunctional due to historical social problems; very much a novel of now, the 21st century.

A book that will change the literary landscape of this country.

The Woman in the Blue Cloak is a brilliant novella which will thrill and entertain fans of Deon Meyer's much-loved detective Benny Griessel. Benny Griessel is a cop on a mission: he plans to ask Alexa Bernard to marry him.

That means he needs to buy an engagement ring - and that means he needs a loan. So Benny has a lot on his mind when he is called to a top-priority murder case.

A woman's body is discovered, naked and washed in bleach, draped on a wall beside a picturesque road above Cape Town.

The identity of the victim is a mystery, as is the reason for her killing. Gradually, Benny and his colleague Vaughn Cupido begin to work out the roots of the story, which reach as far away as England and Holland... and as far back as the seventeenth century.

Meet Tannie Maria: the loveable writer of recipes in her local paper, the Klein Karoo Gazette.

One Sunday morning, as Maria stirs apricot jam, she hears her editor Harriet on the stoep. What Maria doesn't realise is that Harriet is about to deliver a whole basketful of challenges and the first ingredient in two new recipes - recipes for love and murder.

A delicious blend of intrigue, milk tart and friendship, join Tannie Maria in her first investigation. Consider your appetite whetted for a whole new series of mysteries . . .

In 2019, Eva Mazza's Sex, Lies & Stellenbosch took the SA publishing world by storm. The sizzling novel, centred around the seemingly upstanding lives of Stellenbosch's elite, has remained in the Top 100 since publication. Now the much anticipated sequel will whet the appetites of thousands of readers obsessed with what happens next in the steamy lives of the winelands aristocracy.

At the end the first book, Jen, the main protagonist, receives a mysterious WhatsApp, which set book two in motion. The sequel masterfully tracks the next stage of the lives of the characters readers got to love and hate.

There is Jen's ex-husband, John, bent on a path of self-destruction; her ex-best friend, Frankie, who betrayed Jen in more ways than one; and the sultry Patty, who works at the Cape Town sex club secretly attended by the small town's elite, who now finds herself in New York. Is Lee still alive? And who is Captain Stranger?

Qabila’s marriage is falling apart – it has been for years. If she had not fallen pregnant she and Rashid might not have married in the first place. After all, he was seeing Thandi at the time. And now Qabila wonders if he ever stopped seeing her. Does that explain why Qabila has never felt the full measure of his love? At least he is not abusive, her mother would say, unlike Qabila’s father.

But with her mother’s passing, Qabila’s world is coming undone. She is dreaming of strange songs and making lists to stay sane. When she finds out Rashid is living a double life, she demands a divorce. Why does he still resist? Why not go to Thandi?

As she tries to pick up the pieces of her life, Qabila rails against the persistent legacy of discrimination in South Africa. Not least of which is the racism in her own community towards fellow black people. But she also rediscovers the joy of family, and her Muslim faith, and meets a group of musicians who might be the answer to her puzzling dreams.

Hannah Harrison escapes her stalled life in Cape Town for a small-town bookshop in the Free State.

A concentration-camp journal from the South African War, found in a dusty box of old stock, reveals the life of Rachel Badenhorst, a young girl separated from her family and enduring the crushing hardship of war. Hannah becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to Rachel.

Coveting the young girl’s courage and endurance, she is compelled to uncover Rachel’s story, never thinking it will lead her to pick open the wounds of a local farmer and dig up old tragedies, unearthing grief that even the land has held on to for over a century.

’n Verhaal oor sterk vroue, bendegeweld en aanvaarding.

Niemand spreek haar as Nicola de Wee aan nie. Vir Blackie, die kollega in wie se plek sy telkens bevorder word, is sy “ounooi”; vir Peters, wat onredbaar beenaf op haar is, is sy “kaptein”; haar priestervriendin Sally noem haar “Nic”. Dis net die Khayelitsha-stasiebevelvoerder vir wie sy “kaptein De Wee” heet.

Die nag toe hulle na ’n brandende voertuig uitgeroep word, kon kaptein De Wee nie droom dat dit Thandi se motor is nie, dat sy later haar grusaam verminkte lyk sou moes uitken, en watter verreikende uitwerking die moord op haar vriendekring sou hê nie. Allermins dat sy uiteindelik die ondersoek na die moord sou moes lei.

Maar om die agt moordenaars op te spoor en hul motief te ontrafel, is nie die enigste uitdaging waarvoor Nicci in hierdie ongewoon verweefde misdaadroman taan nie. Sy het self ’n geheim wat sy slim verdoesel. Tot die aand dat sy en Blackie en Peters ’n potjie maak.

When Natasha, a novice writer from South Africa, is nominated for a major British literary prize, Terence, a young university lecturer, undertakes to introduce her to the sights of London.

However, London and its literary cliques are a far cry from Natasha’s Karoo hometown: through no fault of her own, she is disqualified, and their affair ends in tragedy. Terence, whose best friend accuses him of suffering from a Good Samaritan complex, now takes an interest in a rough sleeper and his dog that he meets outside a tube station.

This turns out to be a complex undertaking. As the ghosts of his past relationships are visited upon him, Terence is forced to reconsider the meaning of human connections – how our lives touch, and are touched by, others.

Michiel Heyns’s Each Mortal Thing shows us the metropolis through fresh eyes, calculates the cost of acts of kindness, and speaks to the grace that friendship can bestow on us.