Franschhoek Literary Festival 2024

Tracy Going vowed to herself as a little girl that her life would be different from her mother’s; that she would never be beaten up. But then she broke her own promise. “As I stood before him all I could see were the lies, the disappearing for days without warning, the screaming, the threats, the terror, the hostage-holding, the keeping me up all night, the dragging me through the house by my hair, the choking, the doors locked around me, the phones disconnected, the isolation, the fear, the uncertainty.” Brutal Legacy is an unflinching account of a romantic relationship that quickly turned violent. In mesmerising detail, the former TV and radio presenter tells the story of how she staggered into a police station battered and bruised, the harrowing two-and-a-half-year court process, the immediate collapse of her career due to the highly public nature of her assault, her decline into depression and the decades-long journey to undo the psychological damages in the search for safety and the reclaiming of self. The legacy of violence forms the backdrop of the book as Going relives her childhood on a plot in Brits, laced with the unpredictable rage of an alcoholic father. Brilliantly penned, Brutal Legacy is ultimately uplifting in the realisation that healing is a lengthy process, and that self-forgiveness and acceptance are essential in order to fully embrace life.

Read more less

Nearly three decades after the dawn of democracy, South Africa has remained a country of ‘two agricultures’. On the one hand we have a subsistence, primarily non-commercial, black farming segment. On the other hand, however, we have a predominantly commercial and white farming sector that is well-resourced and has access to domestic and international trade networks. These disparities can be traced back to South Africa’s painful history where, for decades, black farmers were on the margins of government support and also experienced land dispossession and livestock plunder. A Country of Two Agricultures focuses less on history and more on the present and the future, explaining why these disparities have persisted in the democratic era, and what it will take to overcome them. It aims to contribute to a better understanding of the variety of agricultural forces, taking into account both questions of domestic political economy and external factors, as well as to bring to light new risks and opportunities. Wandile Sihlobo offers insights into the role of agriculture in the South African economy from an agricultural economy perspective, and provides political economy insights that are rooted in the experiences of farming communities on the ground and right through the value chain. Beyond insights on the realities this book offers the government, the private sector, and anyone interested in the betterment of the South African economy, tools to grapple with this duality, and proposes a framework for bolstering the black farming segment for growth and competitiveness – and ultimately food security.

Read more less

Andzani’s childhood community has become a shadow in his Cape Town life that holds him hostage. He minimizes his visits back home to Mbambamencisi as a way to evade unpleasant, long-repressed memories. But as the past ruptures in the present, another Grindr binge fails to offer respite. A Soft Landing is a powerful coming-of-age story about trauma, healing, family, and the courage to love and be loved.

Read more less

No little thorn in the flesh or irritating fly in the ointment, Zapiro just cannot be ignored. It’s been another helluva year, and who better to make sense of it than Zapiro, political analyst, cartoonist and agent provocateur. He has the ability to knock the air out of us, to rock us back in our seats, to force us bolt upright with a 1000-watt jolt of electrifying shock. He makes us angry, he makes us laugh and he makes us think. He shines a light on the elephant in the room, presents the emperor in all his naked glory. Impossible to brush off, he is determined to provoke a response. When all around is crumbling, when fake news and zipped lips conceal the truth, Zapiro comes to the rescue. With the dissecting eye of a surgeon, the rapier-like point of his pen exposes flimflam, and reveals with a line what lies behind the action.

Read more less

Twenty-nine-year-old Zola has spent the past 15 years working and studying in Europe thanks to a series of high school bursaries and opportunities that allowed her to escape the hardships of South Africa. But when her visa finally expires and there are no further prospects in sight, she has no choice but to leave behind her life, lover and the dreams she has begun to build in Germany and return home to an uncertain future. The Thing with Zola is a humorous and sexy beach read about a young woman navigating the working world, family politics and an unexpected office romance, all while trying to figure out her place in a country that no longer feels like home. Basically, it's complicated.

Read more less