March Literary Fiction

Theo of Golden

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON 'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from… His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance – or has he? He visits the local coffeehouse, where ninety-two pencil portraits hang on the walls, portraits by a local artist of the people of Golden. He begins purchasing them, one at a time, and putting them back in the hands of their 'rightful owners'. With each exchange, a story is told, a friendship born, and a life altered. A story of seeing and being seen, Theo of Golden is a beautifully crafted novel about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the invisible threads of kindness that bind us to one another. Readers love Theo of Golden… 'Heart-wrenching' 'I have read many books in my life – this is without doubt one of the greatest' 'The most beautiful book I've ever read' 'Destined to become a classic' 'I have never cried so many times reading a book' 'Salve for the soul'

Read more less

Allen Levi

R 405.00
Heart the Lover

'You knew I'd write a book about you someday' Our narrator understands good love stories - their secrets, their highs and free falls. But her greatest love story, the one she lived, never followed the rules. She was in her senior year of college when star students Sam and Yash swept her into an intoxicating world of academic fervour, rapid-fire banter and raucous card games. Their lives became quickly intertwined - with friendship but also with unpredictable passions and the intimations of first love. Decades later, she is a successful writer, living a comfortable life with her husband and children, when a surprise visit brings the past crashing into the present, forcing her to confront the decisions and deceptions of her youth. Written with the precision of poetry and the emotional tide of an epic, Heart the Lover is a celebration of literature and the life-long echoes of young love. This is King at her very best, affirming her as a masterful chronicler of the human experience and one of the finest novelists at work today.

Read more less

Lily King

R 490.00
Mona’s Eyes

The sensational French novel about love and beauty that has taken the world by storm Fifty-two weeks. That’s all the time Mona has left to learn about beauty before she loses her eyesight forever. Fifty-two works of art. Every Wednesday, Mona’s grandfather picks her up after school and takes her to see a great work of art. Fifty-two chapters. Together, on their visit to Paris’ museums, Mona and her grandfather will experience enchantment and sadness. Above all, they will grow ever closer and learn to lean on each other. From Botticelli to Basquiat, Mona will discover not only the power of art, but also the meaning of generosity, doubt, melancholy, and loss. A profound, beautifully crafted novel about the fullness of life and an enthralling guide to the world’s most renowned art, Mona’s Eyes is a moving story about the bond between a young girl and her grandfather.

Read more less

Thomas Schlesser

R 585.00
Cape Fever

An exhilarating tale of twisted desire and the unexpected shape of revenge, for readers of The Safekeep‘I come highly recommended to Mrs Hattingh through sentences I tell her I cannot read.’1920, a small, unnamed city in a colonial empire. Soraya Matas believes she has found the ideal job as a personal maid to the eccentric Mrs Hattingh, whose beautiful, decaying home is not far from the Muslim quarter where Soraya lives with her parents. As Soraya settles into her new role, she discovers that the house is alive with spirits.While Mrs Hattingh eagerly awaits her son’s visit from London, she offers to help Soraya stay in touch with her fiancé Nour by writing him letters on her behalf. So begins a strange weekly meeting where Soraya dictates and Mrs. Hattingh writes – a ritual that binds the two women to one another and eventually threatens the sanity of both. ‘Slim, taut, haunting… an utterly beguiling read’ LUCY CALDWELL‘The Cape Town that Nadia Davids summons up in her invaluable body of work is a riven, achingly sad place of shadows, quite unlike the comfortable, sleepy Mother City of the colonial imagination’ JM COETZEE

Read more less

Nadia Davids

R 370.00
The Wildest Beauty

Danny Marais is the twin brother of the beautiful, talented Charlie. The Wildest Beauty is a remarkable novel, Danny’s account of their childhood . . . up to their eventual enlistment in the First World War. From their placidly peaceful Stellenbosch schooldays to, ultimately, the Battle of Delville Wood, Danny keeps a loving but half-resentful eye on his brother.The novel is also an intimate account of a small group of friends and family, inter alia the loving parents left behind in Stellenbosch during wartime. And then there is Danny’s life-changing encounter, in the darkened streets of wartime London, with a wryly cynical, battle-scarred officer.In the midst of the greatest conflict in history, facing the wild beauty of ‘the abyss of unmeaning’, Danny discovers the power of love, between friends, family – and even foes.

Read more less

Michiel Heyns

R 390.00

84%

(1280)

14%

(216)

(25)

(5)

(3)

1079

213

Lani en Elliot balanseer nie en die vonke spat uit die staanspoor

Elliot tree totaal buite karakter op toe hy langs die hoofpad stop om ’n ryloper op te laai. Hy neem haar boonop na sy ouerhuis toe en vind aanhoudend redes om haar binne sy sfeer te hou. Mens sou dit liefde met die eerste opslag wou noem, maar gewilde skrywer, Madelie Human, noem dit Kortpadliefde.
Moenie verwag dat alles glad gaan verloop nie. “Hy en Lani is beslis nie die twee kante van ’n wiskundige vergelyking nie. Hulle balanseer nie. Kyk maar net hoe die vonke tussen hulle van die eerste oomblik af gespat het.” (p.50)
Moet verder nie verwag dat dit die standaard romanse is nie. Daar is baie diepgaande kwessies wat oopgeskryf word, soos ouer-kind verhoudings, beroepsbedrewendheid, soeke na sosiale aansien, selfs ’n cougar wat skaamteloos die mooi verhouding tussen Lani en Elliot verontagsaam. Dwelmsmokkelary, verdagmaking en vooroordeel is dinge wat negatief inwerk op die ontwikkelende verhouding, maar gelukkig gee die skrywer dit in kleinerige porsies deur aan die leser.
Kortpadliefde is die nuutste in ’n lang lys van suksesvolle Romanzas deur Madelie Human, wat uitgegee is deur Lapa.

Liefde in Barcelona en vrede maak met die verlede

As ’n gesoute leser van romanses, mag jy dalk dink dat jy ’n goeie idee het oor romantiese liefde. Lees jy egter René van Zyl se nuutste Romanza, Sigeunerliefde, gaan jy ’n nuwe definisie raaklees wat die skrywer gaan leen het uit die opera, Carmen. “Liefde is ’n sigeuner se kind wat hom nie aan wette steur nie en nie gedwing kan word om lief te hê nie.” (p.182)
Karmen se verhaal het my skoon nostalgies gehad. Ek het self die voorreg gehad om Spanje te besoek en goeie herinneringe het kom aanklop: Flamenco-dansers, Gaudi, die Sagrada Familia-basilika, metrotreinritte deur Barcelona, sangria by ‘n kafee, stap met La Rambla langs. Jy hoef egter nie te vrees dat dit gaan lees soos ’n reisbrosjure nie. Die agtergrond is presies dit, die verhoog waarop ’n hartroerende verhaal afspeel van ’n jong vrou wat geteister word deur verwyte, gemis van haar ouers en veroordeling deur haar ouma.
Die straatmusikant wat haar hart kom steel, leer haar ook dat sy nie mag het oor lewe en dood nie. Sy moet die skuldlas laat vaar wat haar dryf om soos ’n sigeuner rond te swerf en nêrens rus te vind nie.
Die skrywer gee subtiele wenke oor sekere elemente van die storie, net genoeg om nie die oomblik te bederf wanneer die kloutjie en die oortjie mekaar vind nie. Hierdie is ’n heel oorspronklike storielyn wat ek geweldig baie geniet het, selfs ’n traan afgevee het.

The boy and the Whale shark

Highly recommended for children with skin ailments. A wonderful story.

For people that enjoy political satire

This is one of the best books I've ever read.
At first, it seems like a simple story about farm animals who rebel against their owner in search of a better life. However, as the story progresses it becomes clear that Orwell is making a much deeper point about politics, corruption and power.
What I found most interesting was how the pigs slowly become just as bad as the humans they replaced. Napoleon’s rise to power feels frustrating to watch, especially because the other animals trust him so easily. Characters like Boxer are particularly memorable because they show how loyalty and hard work can be taken advantage of by those in authority.
Although Animal Farm is based on historical events, its message still feels relevant today. The book highlights how propaganda, misinformation, and blind trust in leaders can allow people to gain and abuse power. Orwell presents these ideas in a way that is easy to understand without making the story feel like a history lesson.
Overall, I really enjoyed Animal Farm. Its simple writing style makes it accessible, but the themes are complex and thought-provoking. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys books that make you think about society and human nature or just people that really enjoy political satire.

Twee pragtige verhale van verlies en oorwinning

Met die pragtige Helene de Kock Inspirasie-omnibus in my hand, het ek vrymoedigheid geneem om by die skrywer aan te klop met ’n paar vrae, wat sy goedgunstiglik beantwoord het.
Ek wou in die eerste plek weet of sy sulke romans wat vir herpublikasie oorweeg word, moet redigeer. Haar antwoord was baie duidelik en goed gemotiveer: sy skaaf nooit aan heruitgawes nie omdat dit goed is dat lesers ’n boek binne sy tydvak lees. “Al beweeg die karakters teen die tydsgees in”, het sy gesê.
Verder wou ek weet of sy, as skrywer, insae het in die keuse van boeke vir ‘n omnibus, waarop sy positief geantwoord het dat sy wel insae het en dit moet goedkeur.
Die produk van hierdie proses is die kombinasie van Kruispad vir Kara, oorspronklik uitgegee in 2018, en Engel op die drumpel, uitgegee in 1999. Daar is nogal heelwat raakpunte tussen hierdie twee romans in die geestelike fiksie genre. Die hoofkarakters in albei is studente aan Tukkies en albei is pratige meisies wat die aandag trek van mansstudente wat sosiale en akademiese aansien geniet. Jannes Conradie en Hein Leroux deel egter ’n swakte: hulle is nie ouens wat erns maak met verhoudings nie.
Liriese taalgebruik en goeie kennis van die Woord asook die gawe om dit toepaslik in die storielyn te verweef, maak van Helene de Kock se boeke iets besonders, sonder om prekerig oor te kom. Haar karakters ly verlies, hulle voer ’n geloofstryd, het baie wroeging, en hulle moet indringend selfondersoek doen alvorens daar uiteindelik oorwinning kom. Vir die romantiese siele is daar ook die belofte van liefde wat oorwin.
Die Inspirasie-omnibus is uitgegee deur Lux Verbi, die geestelike druknaam van Jonathan Ball Uitgewers. Jy sal dit oral in goeie boekwinkels kan opspoor.

1 2 3

Theo of Golden

Heart the Lover

Mona’s Eyes

Cape Fever

The Wildest Beauty

Let customers speak for us