Book Club: Four local books to read this public holiday
A public holiday. Love them! A chance to curl up with a great book. Here are four local books that have just hit the bookshelves.
In 1932, Afrikaans literary icon CJ Langenhoven died suddenly. He surprised the Afrikaner establishment by naming a young Jewish woman, the fiery redhead Sarah Eva Goldblatt, executrix of his literary legacy.
Since childhood, Dominique Malherbe had been intrigued by the mystery surrounding her great-aunt and Langenhoven. She finally set out to discover Sarah’s story, reclaim her for posterity, and find Sarah’s son.
In the biography-cum-memoir Searching for Sarah – The Woman Who Loved Langenhoven, Cominique uncovers a fascinating literary love story. Tafelberg
Catherine from America and South African André have a small grape-producing farm in the Cape Winelands, but their dream is becoming a nightmare.
A great gap has opened up between them and the resident workers, revealing vastly different perspectives. The situation threatens the relationship between the couple and compromises Catherine’s best efforts to improve farmworker life.
It also endangers them all. Inspired by actual events, Worlds Apart explores what can happen in a changing post-apartheid context when diverse people on one farm are forced to face off against one another. African Sun Media
In A’Eysha Kassiem’s Suitcase of Memory, Bastian Bredenkamp is dead. But even the dead have secrets.
From the grave, Bastian, who suffered from a rare condition called hyperthymesia, which allowed him to remember everything that ever happened to him since the day he was born, weaves together the extraordinary tale of his life.
Bastian, the only heir to the Goedleven farm, was adopted by white parents, and passed off as their own.
When Khadeejathree comes to work for the family as a housekeeper, Bastian is introduced to her daughter Rashieda, and a world he’d been sheltered from. But to love Rashieda means telling his secret … and he requests the Race Classification Appeals Board to reclassify him from white to coloured. Kwela Books
Eva Mazza’s Christine – A Tale of Love, Lies and Liberation is evocative of the Netflix hit series Emily in Paris.
When 24-year old Christine realises that unless she escapes her abusive husband Louis, their marriage vow ‘till death do we part’ might just become her reality.
On securing a job as a hair stylist at a salon in an exclusive hotel in Amsterdam, Christine’s eyes are opened as she discovers a world of glamour and magical experiences. And when she meets bad boy Giovanni she encounters unexpected sexual liberation. Melinda Ferguson Books.
