Upstairs Downstairs: A Musical Memoir

What if a memoir went beyond words—told not just through writing, but through lyric readings, music (32 original songs), and videos?

Author and creator Karina Marais is doing exactly that. Upstairs Downstairs is a multi-sensory experience that redefines what a memoir can be.

“Knock-knock, anybody home?”

For 20 years, Karina Marais and her partner have lived apart together in a shared residence—his bachelor pad upstairs, her retreat downstairs—connected by a staircase that links their spaces while preserving their independence. No unannounced visits, no dull routines, just passion, freedom, and a love story shaped on their terms.

In Upstairs Downstairs, Marais shows how they successfully manage a Living Apart Together (LAT) relationship where love, ambition, and independence coexist. But her memoir isn’t just about love; it’s also about passion and daring to dream. Some of her dreams took flight, others fell short, but she didn’t want to leave this world without chasing them. That drive makes her jump out of bed every morning, a trait many aspiring entrepreneurs share.

Through multisensory storytelling with words, lyric readings, music, and videos, she brings to life the emotions behind love, loss, and the pursuit of dreams.

The pre-launch of this multi-sensory memoir took place on 20 November 2025 at the new Dare2Dream Dome Restaurant at Forum Homini Boutique Hotel in the Cradle of Humankind. This concept restaurant, designed and built for the memoir, offers, on selected days, an eleven-course fun-dining & wine-pairing experience as well as a three-course breakfast inspired by the food brought to life in her book.

Guests step into a fantasy setting before crossing a bridge to the Dare2Dream Dome Restaurant for dinner and breakfast, an experience that engages all five senses: sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch.

Each dish is linked to a moment in the memoir. Each dish is an act, presented as a tale, a song, and a taste.

Here, stories are served, and dreams begin again.

Karina Marais is a South African educator, entrepreneur, and now a creative storyteller who is possibly breaking ground in memoir writing. She co-founded BrainBoosters, an educational NGO, recognised as one of the best in Africa, and created the Running with Bulls financial literacy board game, endorsed by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and sold nationwide. She also presented a television series about children and money on DSTV’s KykNet. Currently, she is a Non-Executive Director at Eureka DIY and Forum Homini Boutique Hotel.