The stories in Once Removed traverse the theatres, artist studios and archives that characterise the world of contemporary art and performance. But they also zero in on the homes, private lives, daily journeys and emotional interiorities of the various characters that inhabit them. While the stories in Once Removed draw from the undercurrents of the South African art world, their concerns and evocations are not limited to it.

“Once Removed is for readers who are familiar with the worlds of art and performance, and those for whom it is completely foreign. A reader doesn’t need to be immersed in the world of artists, critics, exhibitors, gallerists or academics to access the collection, and to enjoy the imbalances, precarity, hilarity, and possibilities represented in it,” explains Mann.

Part ironic realism, part experimental surrealism, these stories will matter differently, but equally significantly, to those inside and outside the world they evoke and inhabit.

Hoe Sara Koordom op Rooiduin in die verre Noord-Kaap aangeland het, is ’n raaisel. Sy het gekom soos die woestynwind – een dag was sy daar, en niemand weet van waar nie. En hoekom sy op Rooiduin bly, is selfs ’n groter raaisel.

Dis nie lank nie of die hele dorp merk op watter raakvatter Sara is. Tot meneer Thüneman van die Algemene Handelaar het gevra of sy twee keer ’n week die pos kan kom uitsorteer. En vir klein Kuikentjie Boskat is sy soos ’n eie ma.

Sara voel veral tuis by ouma Spriet en oom Alles, wat met die helm gebore is. En by ant Korreltjie, wat haar geleidelik leer van patrone uitlê en rokkies maak.

Maar die bedreiging wat Piet Boskat inhou, roep die spoke van Sara se verlede op. Kan sy vir haar ’n weg ooptrap om vry te kom van die gevare van die hede én van die verlede? En terselfdertyd die mense beskerm vir wie sy so lief geword het?

’n Aangrypende, meelewende roman deur die skrywer van die hoog aangeskrewe debuut Die kinders van Spookwerwe.

Dis 'n roman oor die aftakeling wat vrou- en ma-wees op gees en lyf kerf.

Daar is 'n ongewone, ontgogelde blik op swangerskap, ontdaan van blosende skoonheid, vreedsame afwagting en innige vervulling; eerder gekenmerk deur vrees, angstigheid en ongemak. Die bloedige slagveld van geboorte word ontstellend verwoord en daarna die allesoorheersende liefde vir die babas. Maar ook die onmoontlike gyselaarsituasie van 'n ongelukkige huwelik: “Om 'n ma te wees is onmenslik moeilik as jou gees gevlug het uit jou lyf.”

Dis ook die verhaal van die mooi vriendskap tussen 'n ma en stiefma. Kylie en Katrin word mekaar se weemoed.

In 1900 reis die Britse dokter Oliver Glenville na Deelfontein in die Karoo om by ’n Britse veldhospitaal vir offisiere aan te sluit. Daar beland beseerde Britse soldate én Boerekrygers op sy operasietafel.

Klara Grootboom, ’n skoonmaker, rig ’n versoek aan hom wat teen sy beginsels indruis, maar dis asof sy hom in ’n vangnet van haar eie het.

Meer as ’n honderd jaar later skep ’n opkomende Kaapse kunstenaar ’n uitstalling uit Deelfontein se gegewens en ontdek ’n onverwagse familieband . . .

The captivating new novel from the internationally-bestselling author of The Dictionary of Lost Words.

'Your job is to bind the books, not read them.'

When the men of Oxford University Press leave for the Western Front, Peggy, her twin sister Maude and their friends in the bookbindery must shoulder the burden at home. As Peggy moves between her narrowboat full of memories and the demands of the Press, her dreams of studying feel ever more remote. She must know her place, fold her pages and never stop to savour the precious words in front of her.

From volunteer nurses to refugees fleeing the horrors of occupation, the war brings women together from all walks of life, and with them some difficult choices for Peggy. New friends and lovers offer new opportunities, but they also make new demands - and Peggy must write her own story.

Twee gewilde Weskus-romans in een.

Haar naam is Ragel:
Die verhaal van ’n jong ma wat haar seuntjie se dood moet leer verwerk. Sy ontmoet ’n ma wat net soos sy nie kan ophou treur nie. Saam leer die twee vroue geleidelik wat die sin van lyding is en hoe God in Jesus kan troos.

Marta:
Terwyl die 17-jarige Marta se pa in haar arms sterf, vra hy haar om na haar ma om te sien. Haar geloof verval in roetinewerk, en sy neem haar kort-kort voor om haar lewe beter in te rig, maar dit gebeur nie.

Three couples, one night. And the life that follows...

Eva looked out the attic window of their charming guest house and watched the sun rise. She thought she might be sick. Splayed on the lawn below was Frank, apparently out cold. Her husband snored in the bed behind her. She loved Shay, of course she did, but right now the only person she wanted to think about was Conor. She didn't want to think about Bea or Lizzie or what Lizzie might have got up to with Shay.

Frank's 48th birthday had given the three couples an excuse for a much needed night away from children, nagging bills and ailing parents. The drink flowed, life in Dublin with all its stress felt a long way away. When Frank proposed they swap partners, it felt deliciously, irresistibly reckless. One night. No obligations. No expectations. All the women had to do was text a man of their choice.

The only rule? No falling in love.

It was a night that some of them couldn't remember. And others couldn't forget.

Die wetenskap gee aanleiding tot vrae wat net liefde kan antwoord in hierdie roerende en diepsinnige verhaal uit die pen van Karen Kingsbury, die #1-topverkoperskrywer van lewensveranderende fiksie.

Maddie Baxter West se lewe van uitmekaar wanneer sy uitvind dat alles wat sy omtrent haar lewe geglo het, is ’n leuen. Haar ouers het altyd beplan om haar die waarheid oor haar verlede te vertel: dat sy as ’n embrio aangeneem is. Maar die regte geleentheid het nooit opgeduik nie. Dan konfronteer ’n vreemdeling haar met die waarheid en vertel haar iets wat haar wêreld omvergooi – Maddie het ’n suster waarvan sy nooit geweet het nie. Verraai, kwaad en verward los Maddie haar nuwe werk en verloofde, verwerp haar gesin se versoeke vir vergifnis, en trek na Portland om uit te vind wie sy werklik is.

Dawson Gage se lewe word verwoes wanneer London Quinn, sy beste vriendin en die enigste meisie wat hy ooit liefgehad het, skielik sterf. In die hospitaal se wagkamer onthul London se moeder dat London dalk ’n broer of suster kan hê. Die gevriesde embrio wat sy en haar man dekades gelede geskenk het. Wanneer Dawson vir Maddie vind en haar na Portland bring, verwelkom die Quinns – haar biologiese ouers – haar in hul lewens en harte. Maggie is vertroos deur die Quinns se liefde en nuuskierig oor hulle herinneringe van London, wat so baie soos sy was. Is dít die gesin en die lewe wat sy eintlik veronderstel was om te gehad het?

Nou sal dit Dawson Gage se liefde wees wat Maddie help om te weet wie sy is . . . en hoe sy haar pad terug kan vind huis toe.

Hugo hou sy hand in die lug. “Wag jy ook eers in die eetsaal. Ek gaan net gou die situasie bekyk. Ek kan nie toelaat dat hierdie ʼn sirkus word nie.”

“Ek verstaan,” fluister Irma. ʼn Warm gloed van woede stoot teen haar wange op. Sirkus! Sy draai om en stap na die eetsaal waar die span en Inus reeds sit en wag. Irma frons. As almal siek is, is dit dan net die span en syself, Inus en Mari wat nie simptome toon nie. Hoe kan dit wees?

Irma Mulder vind haarself steeds vasgevang na die reeksmoorde van die verlede. Die Bloedspore van haar verlede weerhou haar sosiale vryheid. Tog besluit sy om deel te neem aan die groot skryf uitdaging waarheen sy genooi is. Wat kan tog verkeerd gaan? Nes Irma dink dinge werk in haar guns val haar drome plat en staan sy te midde van ‘n massamoord. Weereens word sy as verdagte gesien deur Hugo.

Gaan die saak vinnig opgelos word, en wat gaan oorbly van die reeds sukkelende vriendskap tussen haar en Hugo. Of gaan daar dalk die keer erkenning gegee word aan die liefde wat in haar hart brand?

A fearless portrait of a society on the brink as a mother faces a terrible choice, from an internationally award-winning author.

On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find the GNSB on her step. Two officers from Ireland’s newly formed secret police are here to interrogate her husband, a trade unionist.

Ireland is falling apart. The country is in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny and Eilish can only watch helplessly as the world she knew disappears. When first her husband and then her eldest son vanish, Eilish finds herself caught within the nightmare logic of a collapsing society.

How far will she go to save her family? And what – or who – is she willing to leave behind?

Exhilarating, terrifying and propulsive, Prophet Song is a work of breathtaking originality, offering a devastating vision of a country at war and a deeply human portrait of a mother’s fight to hold her family together.

Verbly julle in die hoop is die tweede boek in die drieluik met die temas geloof, hoop en liefde wat verbeeld word deur die lewensverhaal van Andreas Beyers. Ons eerste ontmoeting met ’n jong Andreas is in Geloof soos ’n mosterdsaadjie, en hier vind ons hom waar hy terug delf in die verlede.

Dit is Vrydag 20 Maart 2020: Die huis waar Andreas die afgelope vyf jaar gewoon het, is opgepak. Die volgende dag vertrek hy saam met sy kinders na ’n aftreeoord in die Strand waar hy die laaste jare van sy lewe sal slyt. Hoewel Covid-19 inperkings aan die orde van die dag is, weet die meeste SuidAfrikaners, asook Andreas en die ander mense op die plattelandse dorpie glad nie wat op hulle wag nie.

Verbly julle in die hoop sal harte aanraak en twyfelaars nuwe moed gee. Jesus se volgelinge hoop nie omdat hulle wens dat dit eendag beter met hulle sal gaan nie; hulle leef in blydskap omdat hul wense reeds vervul is. Dit moes Andreas Beyers eers leer voordat hy blywende geluk kon vind.

All I saw was Humanity is a compilation of short stories that depicts everyday human realities and details the experiences of various characters.

It speaks to their challenges and struggles, thoughts, feelings and aspirations, failures and internal conflict. It paints different pictures from children grappling with the divorce of their parents, young adults attempting to navigate adulthood amid trauma, to the complexities of dealing with loss and disappointment.

The stories are enlightening about battles often fought in private and how human perspectives over the same matter can often be different. The stories aim to incite an understanding of the vast and various backgrounds people come from and encourage compassion in everyday life as we are often unaware of what that background is.

She’s a high-fashion realtor; he’s a low-maintenance mechanic. What on earth could they have in common?

Dressed in designer labels and cruising around town in her red Mercedes, workaholic realtor Harper Wilson presents the picture of success in charming Maple Falls. But Harper’s carefully cultivated image is resting on a shaky foundation. With a sudden drought in sales, she’s starting to see her professional dreams—along with her posh lifestyle—slipping away.

Car trouble brings her to mechanic Rusty Jenkins, and their unlikely friendship is taken to the next level when the laid-back Rusty allows her to give him a makeover for a charity bachelor auction. Harper soon discovers that beneath the town mechanic’s wild beard and grease-stained clothing lies a true Southern gentleman—someone with a kind heart and dreams of his own. Their chemistry is undeniable, but as they get closer, past fears and relationships start to creep in, reminding them of just how much is at stake when carefully constructed facades fall apart.

Maybe their worlds aren’t so separate after all. And maybe covering up who you really are keeps you from discovering what was always meant to be.

American Gods, the extraordinary, highly acclaimed epic novel from storytelling genius and international bestseller Neil Gaiman, comes vividly to life in the coolest major TV show of 2017. A roaring success at the recent SXSW festival, the series stars Ricky Whittle, Ian McShane, Emily Browning and Gillian Anderson.

Shadow Moon has served his time. But hours before his release from prison, his beloved wife is killed in a freak accident. Dazed, he boards a plane home where he meets the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who professes both to know Shadow and to be king of America. Together they embark on a profoundly strange road trip across the USA, encountering a kaleidoscopic cast of characters along the way. Yet all around them a storm threatens to break...

The war has already begun, an epic struggle for the very soul of America, and Shadow is standing squarely in its path.

A moving, compelling and uplifting story of following your dreams against the odds from the world’s favourite storyteller, Danielle Steel.

Iris Cooper grew up dirt poor in Texas. Her mother left when she was a baby, leaving her to be raised by her rodeo cowboy dad, who was too interested in beer, whisky and women to be a good father to her or to provide what she needed. On top of her innocent beauty, Iris had a rare gift: she had the voice of an angel. After singing in downtrodden bars across the state from the age of twelve, and then many years on the road with different bands suffering at the hands of greedy managers with no scruples, she finally gets a lucky break when she meets Boy, another talented singer, in Jackson Hole. Together they make their way to New York where Iris’s talent is recognized and nurtured by one of the top agents in the business.

A star is born and Iris finally gets the success she deserves. But then tragedy strikes, and through it Iris discovers another kind of love.

Oorlog verswelg die Boererepubliek. Huise word verwoes, landery word verbrand, en vroue en kinders in konsentrasiekampe aangehou.

Pieter Nel lei ’n kommando bittereinders in ’n desperate opstand teen die Britse ryk. Hulle offer alles op vir ’n vrede wat dalk nooit gaan kom nie, vir ’n huis wat hulle dalk nooit weer gaan sien nie.

Intussen moet Katrina Nel baklei om haarself en hul kinders aan die lewe te hou namate die toestande in die konsentrasiekampe al hoe hagliker word. Hier word haar lewe onlosmaaklik vervleg met dié van die ander vroue, die hanskakies wat die vyand help om die kampe te bestuur, en die Engelse offisier wat haar hart wil wen.

Wag daar lewe of liefde anderkant die oorlog?

The long-awaited second instalment in Samantha Shannon's Sunday Times and New York Times-bestselling series.

Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms – but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory's purpose. To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow – exactly where she wants to be. The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother's past is coming to upend her fate.

When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.

Intricate and epic, A Day of Fallen Night sweeps readers back to the world of A Priory of the Orange Tree, showing us a course of events that shaped it for generations to come.

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?

The debut novel from the global superstar actress Millie Bobby Brown, best known for playing Eleven in Netflix hit series Stranger Things.

London, 1942.

Despite the raging war, spirited 18-year-old Nellie Morris lives a quiet life in the tight-knit East End community of Bethnal Green. Her family and friends all tease that she will marry air raid warden Billy, the boy next door who’s always been sweet on her.

The arrival of Ray, a handsome American airman stationed nearby, causes Nellie to question everything she thought she knew about her future.

Nellie’s newfound happiness is short-lived when a tragic accident occurs during an air raid. Even the closest family can’t escape the devastation of war, and as the secrets and truth about that fateful night become clear, they threaten to tear Nellie – and those dearest to her – apart.

Inspired by the true events of her family history, Millie Bobby Brown’s dazzling debut novel is a moving tale of longing, loss and secrets, and the lengths that we will go to fight for love.

She’s stayed quiet for too long. Now it’s time to speak her truth.

Until twenty-four hours ago, Mickey Hayward was living the life she’d always dreamed of: Working as a full-time writer for a trendy media company (tick). In a committed, loving relationship (tick).

Now she’s fired, tossed aside for a younger, more ‘agreeable’ Black writer. Sick of always being overlooked and undervalued, she responds with an online letter detailing the racism she’s faced within the industry. But when it’s met with overwhelming silence, and her girlfriend suggests they go on a break, Mickey’s carefully crafted life starts to fall apart.

As Mickey flees to her hometown, the simplicity of her old life – and the arms of an old flame – are all too tempting. But her life in New York refuses to be forgotten. And when a media scandal turns Mickey’s post into a viral sensation, suddenly everyone wants to hear what she has to say.

It’s what Mickey’s always wanted – isn’t it?

Intimate, witty, and deeply sexy, Homebodies is a testament to those trying to be heard and loved in a world that refuses to make space for them.

Die storie van Sagie, seun van die Klein-Karoo, wat oor soveel jare heen in soveel harte gekruip het, word eindelik hier in een band klaar vertel. Van begin tot einde.

Is Sagie het die eerste keer in 1987 verskyn, Is weer Sagie in 2013, en nou, tien jaar later, verskyn die slot in dié besonderse trilogie: Sagie is.

’n Groep vriende kom die eerste keer in vyf-en-twintig jaar bymekaar om Adriaan se sewentigste verjaarsdag te vier.

Een vir een maak die gaste hul opwagting by Adriaan en Yvette se strandhuis in die Weskus. Sommige bring hul kinders en die uitbundige gelag van kleinkinders saam. Sedert hulle mekaar laas gesien het, moes party lewensmaats en drome vaarwel groet; ander het nuwe liefde en betekenis gevind. En dan is daar Yvette wat haarself nie sover kan kry om vir almal van háár reis te vertel nie.

Laaste kans is ’n hoogs leesbare roman oor vriendskap wat die tyd deurstaan het. Marita van der Vyver skryf met haar kenmerkende insig en humor oor ontheemde mense, die komplekse verhouding tussen ouer en kind, en die eise wat die tyd aan menswees stel.

Spring 1935. Two girls meet by chance on Hampstead Heath. To an outsider, they could not appear more different. Verity is well-mannered and smartly dressed, living with her parents in a beautiful house close to the heath. Ruby is dishevelled and grubby, used to a life of squalor where she is forced to steal to survive. Yet there's an instant affinity between them, and when their fortunes are shockingly reversed, it is the strength of their friendship that keeps them resilient to the challenges and hardships they face.

As Britain prepares for war, Ruby finds herself in Devon with the world at her feet and enjoying her first taste of romance. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, Verity is forced to leave behind everything she has ever known and a shadow from the past threatens her chances of a new beginning. But through it all, the girls are always there for each other. Until the day Verity does the one thing that will break Ruby's heart.

In a country torn apart by fighting, will Verity and Ruby survive long enough to find a way back to each other? Or do some betrayals go with you to the grave ...?

For the first time in twenty-five years, a group of friends gathers to celebrate Adriaan’s seventieth birthday.

One by one, the guests arrive at Adriaan and Yvette’s beach house on the West Coast. Some bring their children and the exuberant laughter of their grandchildren with them. In the years since they last saw each other, some have had to say goodbye to life partners and dreams; others have found new love and meaning. And then there’s Yvette, who can’t yet bring herself to tell everyone about her journey.

Still Breathing is a highly readable novel about friendships that have endured through the years. Marita van der Vyver writes with her characteristic wit and flair about people who have been displaced, the complex relationship between parent and child, and the toll that time takes on being human.

Op Broedersdraai tree vier susters aan vir ’n stille skermutseling. Dit is 1945. In Europa woed die Tweede Wêreldoorlog; in Suid-Afrika die stryd tussen Sap en Nat, tussen die Rooilissies en die Ossewabrandwag.

Ivy, die jongste, smag na ʼn onbevange lewe, ʼn ander werklikheid waarin haar liefde vir ʼn vrou aanvaarbaar sal wees. Sy skaar haar by die Stormjaers wat Smuts en sy oorlog in die wiele probeer ry.

Sophié staan by die regering; haar eggenoot se ambisie en loopbaan hang daarvan af.

Beatrice hunker na haar man, al het sy hom doodgewens.

Terwyl elkeen die struwinge van die tyd aan eie lyf ervaar, is dit Kietie wat verder as haar drie susters sien.

Maar dit is die koms van Domenico Valente, ’n Italiaanse krygsgevangene, wat die spanning op die spits dryf.

Gerda Taljaard se Vier susters is ’n priemende roman wat die tradisies van beide die historiese en die plaasroman omkeer.