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Books > Local Author Showcase > Fiction - adults
Moordhuis is die derde boek in die reeks met doktor Renata Malan as die hoofkarakter. Die eerste twee boeke in die reeks is Monstersaad en Bloedlyn. Renata is n profileerder met n donker verlede en n talent om in geweldsmisdadigers se koppe te klim. Die oorgeerfde boosheid wat in haar gene skuil maak van haar n gedugte teenstander en n gehate vyand. In hierdie roman word die sewejarige Gainsfordtweeling op grusame wyse in n skuur op Mooiplaats in die Bloemfonteindistrik vermoor. Binne-in die opstal is vier van die welgestelde Therons doodgemaak, die liggame uitgestal in die sitkamer. Doktor Renata Malan en die span van Malan & Coetsee Privaatondersoeke word deur die tweeling se ouers aangestel om die moordenaar aan te keer. Die ondersoek neem Renata in onverwagse rigtings: Bloemfontein se seksbedryf, die donker web, die nasleepsels van misdaad gedurende die bosoorlog in die tagtigs, die wereld van kinderpornografie en pedofilie, hebsug, haat en buite-egtelike verhoudings. Die een geraamte na die ander tuimel uit die kas en hoewel die lys van verdagtes daagliks groei, is bewyse skaars. Wie behalwe die Therons se erfgenaam sal voordeel trek uit die gesin se dood? Hou die Gainsfordseuns se dood verband met n baba se verdrinking drie jaar vantevore? Was Jakes Gainsford dalk self betrokke by sy kinders se dood? Was hierdie die perfekte misdaad? Terwyl Renata en haar vennoot, Stefan Coetsee, die verdagtes se maskers afskil en dieper delf in bloedige intriges, baklei sy teen die onwelkome sagte gevoelens wat Stefan na al die jare skielik in haar wakker maak en die liefde vir haar moordenaar-pa.
South African scriptwriter Paul Waterson is sent to Kenya to research a documentary film about Swahili culture. It’s October 2001, and Paul has just been dumped. He spends time in Mombasa, Malindi and Lamu and falls in love with the place and the people. He becomes obsessed with finding the last remaining Mtepe dhow, which he hears is washed up on a beach in Somalia. Piracy is in its infancy but Paul finds it very difficult to find someone to take him into Somali waters. Eventually he talks a dhow captain into the journey, but the entire group is captured by Somali pirates. Navigating treacherous and adventurous waters, Whoever Fears The Sea is Justin Fox’s first novel.
The focal point of the novel is the small town of Soutbek. Its troubles, hardships and corruption, but also its kindness, strong community and friendships, are introduced to us in a series of stories about intriguingly interlinked relationships. Contemporary Soutbek is still a divided town - the upper town destitute, and the lower town rich, largely ignorant - and through a series of vivid scenes, the troubled relationship between Pieter Fortuin, the town's first coloured mayor, and his wife Anna is revealed. In so many ways the past casts a long shadow over the present, not in the least through the unreliable diaries of Pieter Meerman promoted by Pieter Fortuin and Professor Pearson, a retired white historian. They give us a unique insight into the lives of the seventeenth-century Dutch explorers, and hint at a utopian society, suggesting that Soutbek is the birthplace of assimilation and integration. The blossoming friendship between Anna, Sara, a foundling, and Willem, Pieter Fortuin's nephew, is unsettled by David, Anna's and Pieter's son. His father has bought David a bright future, but when he comes back from boarding school David appears alienated from his father and from his old friend, the former gardener Charles Geduld, just as Anna starts to accept him as her son. Is there hope, or are we left with Willem's conclusion that 'he would spend the rest of his life working off the debt of his family's poverty'? A moving story that paints a thought-provoking picture of life in contemporary South Africa.
Die vrou van die klippesee vertel hoe die lewe vir Hendrik tot nou toe gerol het soos ’n stormsee. Hy is ’n visserman van ’n klein dorpie aan die Weskus wat jou aan Paternoster laat dink en in sy lewe het hy reeds sy broer aan die dood afgestaan. Maar dit is die verdwyning van sy vrou wat hom bitter maak en na die papsak wyn laat reik. Só staan hy dronk en droewig in die koue see, reg om homself te verdrink terwyl sy hond op die strand vir hom wag wanneer die roman begin. Hendrik se lewe begin handomkeer verander wanneer hy ’n gewonde gedierte, miskien iets soos ’n meermin, huis toe bring. Die vrou van die klippesee wys hoe goed fiksie sosiale en politieke kwessies kan ondersoek wanneer die skrywer lig werp op die lewe van ’n karakter wat aanvanklik niksseggend en nietig blyk te wees.
Die klein Bram Fischer word gebore uit drome en beelde, met die geloei van Bloemfonteinse osse in die agtergrond. Hy sien die spoke van Paul Kruger en Jopie Fourie, asook die van Hendrik Biebouw, die eerste Afrikaner. In hierdie roman skryf Francois Loots 'n kreatiewe, fiktiewe weergawe van Afrikaner-kommunis en struggle-held Bram Fischer se lewe. Die leser word gedompel in Fischer se leef- en gedagtewereld, in die spanninge en avonture van die jong radikaal. Saam met Fischer, gaan n mens ondergronds. Wat is n mens se diepste gedagtes wanneer jy jou vermom? Wanneer jy soos 'n verkleurmannetjie in nuwe identiteite moet inglip? Of wanneer jy tronk toe gaan? Na die strome drome, word Fischer geteister deur die demone van absolute eensaamheid. Maar wat deur alles bly staan, is sy onwrikbare liefde teenoor sy beminde Molly, wat hom kom verlos uit sy laaste droom. Soms is dit slegs deur die lens van fiksie wat mens iets van die ware geskiedenis kan agterhaal.
Liefde is al wat vir die mens oor is Daar onder raas die see toe Poppie Nel dié dag voor dominee Lukas Lucas op sy stoep staan in haar kuise lang romp. Sy moet glo met iemand praat sodat sy kan opstaan. Poppie is uit die kerk, maar die kerk is nie uit haar nie. Dit lyk egter nie asof sy wil nie – praat of opstaan nie. Lukas het ook nie regtig trek vir ’n pratery nie, sy eie pyn is nog vir hom te kosbaar. Maar hy het nou hierdie herderlike plig. Só ontvou Poppie se verhaal. Dit begin in haar ouerhuis en in ’n saaltjie op ’n plot waar ’n pastoor openbarings kry en waar die Nels slaafse navolgers van sy leringe is. Dis net, die openbarings kom en gaan soos dit die pastoor ten beste kan dien. Langmourokke, manskoene, niks mooimaakgoed nie, studie is ook van die duiwel, uitgedink deur die bose węreld daar buite. Die skade aan ’n meisiekind se siel ... Nou ja. Uiteindelik berei Lukas ’n preek oor die liefde voor. Want dit is al wat daar vir die mens oor is.
In die paar dae voor Kersfees neem Hendrik en Amalia se lewe n onverwagse wending, iets waarvoor hulle nooit voorsiening gemaak het nie. Maar wat vir hulle n nuwe era in hulle verhouding sou kon wees, word verdonker deur n verskriklike voorval waarvoor Hendrik in hegtenis geneem word. Nog Amalia, n staatsaanklaer op Witteberg, nog Hendrik se knap prokureur kan verhoed dat hy opgesluit word deels vir sy eie veiligheid, deels omdat n lafhartige speurder sy mag misbruik. Wat voorbereiding vir n heugelike gebeurtenis en Kersfees moes word, word dae waarin Hendrik intiem met die binnekant van n sel en die se bewoners kennis maak. Daar word van moord gepraat op die taxibaas se seun wat deur n dwaalkoeel getref word en dis die taxibaas se woord teen Hendrik sn. Boonop leef die grensoorlog steeds in Hendrik se gedagtes; die nagmerrie toe hy n makker wat deur die Kubane gevange geneem is, gaan red het. Dekades later buk n Kubaanse dokter oor hom in n hospitaal. En as Hendrik gemeen het dat Amalia veilig is, het hy n fout gemaak
David shares a close bond with his eight-year-old son, Chris, but their family is destroyed when David dies. In the afterlife, he is given an opportunity. He is told that he may be granted three viewings by which to look in on his son. The terms are strict: he cannot help his boy. He cannot reach him, or teach him, or in any way change the course of his life. David agrees, and on three separate occasions observes his son’s unfolding story. The first viewing takes place one year after his own death. The second shows him his son at the age of nineteen. David’s final viewing shows him the final days of Chris’s life. What David sees will not leave him. He has a simple but impassioned request: ‘Let me take his place’.
Sandveldstories is ’n keur uit Ferdinand Deist se gewilde kontreistories uit Pofadder en Peddelford, Die pomporrel-kônsert en ander Sandveldstories en Bom Appeltiet op Eselspoort. Die stories, geskryf in tipiese streekstaal, handel oor ’n unieke węreld en sy mense, sommige groots soos hul omgewing, of klein en dwaas soos mense ook maar is. Ferdinand Deist was ’n gesoute storieman en fyn waarnemer. Sy verhale is humoristies en tydloos, sy karakters kleurryk, en sy vertelwyse is soos ’n bontspul vygies wat in ’n dorre landskap uitbars. Sandveldstories sluit onder meer die volgende stories in: - “Die oorbesige prekkereer” - “Die dood van die founmannetjie” - “Hermaans Askies se opperasie” - “Die suster m't die snôr” - “Frans en Lakkie se Peddelford” - “Ta' Anna se wye tanne” - “Die plaag van Bawel” - “Petrus se ontydige soenery”
Dis 1933 – ses jaar voor die Tweede Węreldoorlog. Kate Woodroffe was nog die heeltyd in watte toegedraai en soos ’n porseleinpoppie opgepas totdat sy besef dat daar ’n ander węreld bestaan as die herehuis in Parktown Ridge. Haar studierigting bring haar in aanraking met die verwoestende armoede van Vrededorp, skaars tien kilometer van waar sy woon, en sy besluit om ’n verskil te maak in die stukkende węreld om haar. Maar die man wat haar pa aanstel om haar op te pas terwyl sy navorsing doen in die agterbuurte, krap haar netjiese planne deurmekaar. Want hy leer haar hart vlieg, laat ’n vreugde diep binne-in haar oopbreek. Maar hy ketting haar ook vas. “In die regte lewe is daar nie ’n óns nie, Kate …” Kate weet dit. Sy is ryk John Woodroffe se dogter, midde-in die wurgende depressie, die armblankes oral, die woedende myners diep in haar pa se goudmyne. En Bernard Neethling is ’n mynwerker. Hul węrelde is onversoenbaar. En dis ononderhandelbaar. Albei weet dit. Maar hy skulp haar toe met sy krag, sy warmte. Hy wil die Suiderkruis vir haar pluk. En dit, weet Kate, sal makliker wees as om hul liefde te laat blom.
A collection of new and critically acclaimed stories by award-winning South African author Ken Barris. Here, Barris's work combines everyday events with the surreal and fantastical: the title story centres on a dog called Worm; in another, husband and wife quarrel over a plugless lamp; and in another, a man encounters a speaking baboon in his kitchen. Poised, lyrical and humorous, the stories in this collection concretise the human condition via the author's characteristically unfettered style.
Die donker het 'n manier om jou in te haal. Op die plaas Die Laagte in die hartjie van die Boland, waar vyf geslagte Jouberts 'n bestaan gemaak het, word Tina in 'n huis vol donkerte groot: Daar is haar bullebakpa, Servaas, haar sagte, maar swakkelingma, Annie, en haar outboet, Sarel, die “sondekind”. Wanneer haar pa sy woede op hulle uithaal, paai haar ma: “Vergewe hom maar. Sy kindertyd was donker.” In 'n poging om van haar eie donker kindertyd te vlug, word Tina uiteindelik 'n verpleegster. In stede van haat, sal sy heling bring. Sy kom egter gou agter dis nie so maklik om van jou verlede te ontsnap nie, en die donker het 'n manier om jou in te haal.
Om Amelie se tafel
"Katrienkie is ʼn móét-lees boek, ʼn móét-versprei, móét-bespreek boek. Dit word sonder enige voorbehoud, onvoorwaardelik aanbeveel vir enige persoon wat in chroniese trauma leef of ʼn ongestrykte bondel eie trauma in ʼn laai geprop het." – Maretha Maartens Hierdie is nie net ’n storie nie maar ’n geselsboek vanuit die skrywer se eie agtergrond wat stap vir stap terapeutiese tegnieke bied aan die getraumatiseerde.
Son is a stunning achievement in post-apartheid writing. The debut novel by South African writer, Neil Sonnekus, Son brims with brio, verve and swagger. Though laugh-out-loud funny at times, it is also achingly poignant and deeply moving. Sonnekus brilliantly captures the so-called Noughties with his tragi-comic creation Len Bezuidenhout, a recent divorcee whose quest for sex is as funny as his attempts to tease a hungover narrative from his father, a puritanical old curmudgeon. The two couldn’t be more different – or similar. They are both storytellers, but when the tale Len starts extracting from his old man is slowly revealed, it is everything but funny. Through scalding humour, caustic wit and brutally frank interrogation into the country’s ‘post Rainbow Nation’ pathology, this stylistically imposing work is one of hilarity, bitter warmth and eventual grace. Son is at times uproarious and unremittingly frank as it exposes politics as a tragic farce. It is both self-deprecating and sensual as it traverses the dark arts of sexual conquest and desire while it simultaneously unearths brutal anxieties around crime, alienation and aging. Central to Son is the brutal mirror of what it means to be a white man in South Africa, confronting a rapid loss of power while struggling to come to terms with stark socio-political change and the possibilities of living an unfulfilled and alienated life. While it hums and whirs with sound, movement and humour, Son seamlessly takes the reader on a profound journey of compassion and self-understanding. In a dark and disturbing turn, it argues that the dominant colour of the rainbow has become not white nor black, but red. Blood red.
Die Oog is ’n bonatuurlike riller gemeng met ’n goeie dosis tongin-die-kies humor, ’n tikkie geskiedenis, ’n titseltjie romanse, ’n knippie filosofie en ’n sterk geur van misterie … ’n donker avontuurverhaal vol goedige, doodernstige draakstekery. Alles is nie pluis in Donkerstroom nie. Die inwoners van hierdie afgesonderde dorpie se daaglikse lewe word gekenmerk deur bygeloof en sinistere rituele wat ontstaan het met ’n gelofte wat ’n groep verhongerde trekkers toentertyd gemaak het. En nou woel die hele dorp in die greep van iets wat onder in Donkerstroom se water ronddraai. Die onderliggende spanning in die gemeenskap word op ’n spits gedryf en dinge begin roer in die verlore vallei wanneer ’n waterinspekteur uit Johannesburg tydens ’n fratsongeluk vermis raak. Sy kollega, Stefan die wetenskaplike, sou eerder graag wou vlug. Zadie, sy vuurvreter van ’n assistent, se aspirasies om ondersoekende joernalis te speel, kry egter die oorhand. Of miskien is dit die wulpse Ismérie en die melankoliese Lorelei wat Stefan se gewone koelkop besluitneming beduiwel terwyl hulle al dieper in ’n spiraal van geweld ingetrek word …
Destiny has two ways of crushing us by refusing our wishes or by fulfilling them. - Henri Fredrick Amiel. Boy meets girl..... girl and boy fall in love...boy gets murdered and girl finds out she's pregnant. How do you move on from the one person you thought was your soulmate? How do you raise his child without falling apart? It is written: A story about destiny follows Zanele Jele after she loses her soulmate in a tragic death. The story explores her journey to healing and letting go as she struggles to let go of what once was. Zanele is conflicted when she begins to have feelings for friend Mthunzi Mathonsi and she slowly and unexpectedly realises that she is in love with him. Could it be that one person can have more than one soulmate in a lifetime... is it possible to give your heart out completely to someone and risk the chance of losing them again? Will she be able to give love another chance or will the fear of loss stand in the way of LOVE.
Jodi: As a young girl, Jodi Daniels has just one silver lining to her turbulent relationship with her mother – her best friend and secret crush, Ryan James. Until her cousin Kimberly drives a wedge between Ryan and Jodi. Jodi is shattered when Ryan has to move to New York, and tries to mend their broken bond by staying in touch as Kimberly. Ryan: Outwardly, Ryan seems to lead the perfect life – rich parents and great looks. Only Jodi has ever known the real upheaval of his life, always being the shining star on his bleak days. But it’s Kimberly who keeps in contact with him when he is in New York. As the years pass he becomes a strikingly handsome hotshot lawyer, and makes the decision to come back home to claim the woman behind the emails – Kimberly surely? Will Ryan and Jodi’s motto, “My heart and soul will recognise you the instant I see you,” prove to be true or will Jodi turn out to be Ryan’s dearest deception?
It is 1206 AD, the year that Dini, the adopted son of Mudivi, the zivi of Mpemba Kasi, turns 12. There is joy and jubilation as Mudivi’s first wife falls pregnant, but the joy is short-lived when she gives birth to a baby girl with the same skin tone as Dini – a skin tone most abhorred in Mpemba Kasi. Further South-East, in the Kingdom of Mapungubwe, the Lemba lived harmoniously with the Vhangona as one. The Lemba’s sacred drum, in the custody of their high priest, has been exploited by the king of the Vhangona to conquer other kingdoms. The king of Mpemba Kasi learns of the plan and intercepts the drum. Hadzhi and Mukoma, are determined to find their sacred drum and will not rest until it is returned home. The journey is unkind, and as Hadzhi, with the same skin tone as Dini, finds himself alone in the journey, he is determined to enter the Kingdom of Mpemba Kasi to retrieve the drum. But the kingdom has not forgotten about the boy whose skin tone continues to scorn the kingdom’s divi through a girl he left behind. As soon as Hadzhi enters the kingdom, a muddle of cheers and cries can be heard – jubilant cheers from the villagers as their whips pierce through the body tied to a pole, and a cry for help from a boy dying for the sins of the other who resembles his skin tone.
Romina Desai, a well-known artist and photojournalist, lives in Johannesburg and uses her art to make visual commentary on social issues and global politics. Her visionary work has earned her celebrity status in the art world. But she is confronted with the racism in the city and in her family when she falls in love with Ismail Mamadou, a Senegalese journalist working in London. When Ismail arrives in South Africa announcing that he is following a story lead about a thriving child trafficking ring in the country, he also reveals his more personal reason for being here: to look for his sister who disappeared from home 25 years ago. He finds more than he bargained for in a web of crime syndicates operating brothels and engaging in human trafficking and prostitution. The Economics Of Love And Happiness is a novel that comments on the sweet and not-so-sweet layers of social and romantic life in South Africa and beyond, where greed and lust often take centre stage and empathy is lost. In this way, it maps out the cost of love and happiness. This story provides a window into the myriad cultures and beliefs that overlap and colour the landscape while Romina and Ismail navigate the challenges that come their way. Will their budding romance survive the bigger storms around them?
Grondhervorming jaag verskillende emosies by verskillende mense op net soos die kunsmatige skeiding tussen mense. Die onsinnigheid van hierdie skanse blyk eers wanneer verhoudings spontaan ontstaan en toegelaat word om natuurlik te ontwikkel. Dié boek toon hoe die aktuele werklikheid van grondhervorming in Suid Afrika deur die spontane goeie verhoudings tussen blanke boere en bruin plaaswerkers tot sinvolle en vreedsame naasbestaan kan lei. Hierdie goeie verhoudings is dan uiteindelik verantwoordelik vir die suksesvolle afhandeling van dieselfde plaaswerkers se grondeise op dieselfde en aangrensende plase waarop hulle grootgeword en gewerk het. Die teenoorgestelde word ook in die boek getoon hoe jy weens onaanpasbaarheid en selfsug alles kan verloor indien jy nie hierdie nuwe strewes in Suid Afrika kan aanvaar en daarby aanpas nie. Die skrywer toon ook die beperkings van eie beheer oor mense se keuses in die lewe. Jy loop jou paaie soos wat dit vir jou uitgestraat is. Die vraag of dit “nie beter sou wees” as die mens vooraf “sy paaie wis” nie, word in die boek aan die orde gebring met die oopvlek van ou geheime van familievetes en buurtwiste. Verbode manewales oor die destydse kleurskeidslyn heen deur die baas van die plaas het drastiese gevolge op die grondeise van al die voorheen benadeelde plaaswerkers. Die aanvaarding van hierdie gevolge laat geen eie keuse nie maar is ook ‘n werklikheid waarmee die lewe almal dan dwing om te lewe.
South Africa, KwaZulu Natal, 1992: Twelve year old Simo begins Secondary school and his twin sisters begin first year. But neither him nor his family can foresee what happens in the years ahead. The IFP and ANC war threatens the lives of many; Simo forced to be part of a guerrilla group and his mother deals with war losses, they both pick up the pieces and thrive after the war. Two decades later, Simo’s secret past is a threat in his love life, like cancer it crawls up his skin and he must find what he longs for: Forgiveness
Mace Bishop and Pylon Buso offer guarding services to the rich in Cape Town, but they want out: tired of the egos and of being shot at, they invest dirty money in a property deal. Obed Chocho is their ruthless opposing bidder and his lawyer, Sheemina February, is as manipulative as he. Part of her agenda concerns her past with Mace. In this mix is Judge Telman Visser, the head of a commission of inquiry into an arms deal scandal, and a son worried that his aging parents aren't safe on their farm. Mace is hired to protect them, taking his daughter along for the ride. But Chocho and February send a hitman, Spitz, to take out Visser's parents. And with Mace and Pylon well used to taking matters into their own hands, they need to track down the killer and play judge and executioner in an attempt to right some wrongs. But they have not factored into the intrigue the role of Sheemina February. Or her wrath.
Evan Vos is jonk, speel rugby vir die universiteit se eerstespan en het altyd ’n meisie aan die arm. Die lewe is ’n lied. Tot daardie dag toe sy hart uit sy binneste geruk word. Al wat oorbly, is ’n intense skuldgevoel en woede. Vir Evan word die oorblyfsels van die ineengetuimelde Metodiste-kerk in Somerset-Wes tekenend van sy eie omstandighede. Tog: Drie jaar later speel hy vir die Springbokke. Wanneer hy op die krukkelys beland weens ’n besering, vra sy pa hom om by sy konstruksiefirma as projekleier op te tree vir die herstel van ’n kerk. Op die perseel van die ou Metodiste-kerkie ontmoet hy vir Anya Breedt, die argitek met die hemelhoë hakke. Hulle is dadelik aangetrokke tot mekaar, maar Anya is ná haar mislukte verhouding versigtig vir verhoudings. Evan weet ook: Met sy bagasie kan hy niemand naby hom toelaat nie, nie voordat hy leer vergewe nie. Die ware gebeure rakende die ineenstorting van die Metodistekerk in Somerset-Wes het die skrywer geďnspireer om hierdie verhaal te skryf, die boek ondersoek Christenskap en liefde tussen jong mense. |
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