BOOK REVIEWS

I AM TSHIAMO 

Author: Tshiamo Modisane

Publisher: Penguin Books

Reviewer: Hazel Makuzeni

What happens when at a very young age you just know something is amiss with how you look? Even though at birth the gender assigned to you is that of a male – you undoubtedly identify more with girls than with boys. You relish nothing more than putting on stilettos and your mama’s wig (when no one is around of course!), and come alive as the princess you know you are. Well, award-winning producer, actress, fashion and celebrity stylist Tshiamo Modisane knew from the age of five that she was in the wrong body. It was crystal clear to her that her physical appearance (as a boy) was the opposite of how she felt biologically. This is her deeply revealing memoir.

Growing up in a strict Christian family in the townships of Kwa-Thema and Daveyton (near Johannesburg), Tshiamo’s childhood was filled with upheavals.

Her father, a pastor, refused to accept her gender identity, and treated her as an outcast. Thus, it comes as no surprise to me to read that Tshiamo and her father do not have a relationship as the man still refuses to acknowledge her as his daughter. Bullied, repressed, and lonely; Tshiamo found courage through faith and prayer. “To this day, I wouldn’t wish my childhood experience on my worst enemy,” she says.

I Am Tshiamo captures the author’s journey to inner peace and personal liberation. For me, the book is an ode to all misgendered people out there, shattering gender and sexuality pigeonholes. It’s difficult to read at times as the author is candid about the abuse and sufferings she has endured – sometimes at the hands of those closest to her. Through sheer perseverance, she has outlasted toxic societal expectations and destructive traditional stereotypes. And has undergone both hormone therapy and gender-affirmation surgery. You Go Girl!! The book also brings to light her career in the entertainment industry, and the professional ups and downs.

Richly detailed, I Am Tshiamo: My transition to self-acceptance and womanhood  is a celebration of living life authentically, and prevailing against all odds. It’s a book that cemented in me the importance of having compassion for fellow beings.   

IN SEARCH OF A BETTER LIFE 

Author: Blessings Africa

Publisher: Cape Arts Publishers

Reviewer: Hazel Makuzeni

This is a tale of tragedies. Based on a true story, the novel is deeply moving and upsetting. There were so many points at which I shook my head in utter disbelief. The cruelty that the main character is subjected to is on a grand scale. There’s no reprieve – whether she’s at home with family, or in the company of strangers. It is the story of Aneni Chimwa. Born in a small rural village in Zimbabwe soon after the country gained independence in 1980, her struggles, entwined with those of her mother and sisters, talk of a time and place where there’s no refuge for women and girls.  

It all started with her mother, Cynthia, not being able to produce a healthy son. All of her boys died soon after birth or months later, and this troubled not only her husband, but also her brother-in-law who saw her as an insult. Rumour in the village was that Cynthia practised witchcraft – eating her own infant sons. The fact that she was born and raised in Mozambique worsened her plight. She was seen as a foreigner and despised for being an outsider.  The situation came to a heartrending conclusion when Cynthia and her daughters were banished from the village, barely escaping with their lives. They spent days scavenging for food while sleeping out in the open. When a lifeline finally came – it was at a hefty price.

Aneni’s journey sees her leaving the village for leafy suburbs only to return after being exploited as a child worker by rich families. Her resilience is tested time after time. With September being celebrated as Heritage Month, I know only too well the importance of keeping traditions alive but I feel we need to introspect. Some traditions and customs need to be done away with ASAP! Aneni’s story is a living testimony to that.

Aneni is trapped in a culture that silences her and ruins any chance she may have to a better future. A culture that forces her into a marriage to a brute. A culture that says it’s okay, and expects, your mother-in-law to treat you as sub-human. A culture that says to be strong and proud, as a woman, you must endure abuse. In fact, being stoical earns you reverence. That as a woman you are the property of your husband. That there would be light at the end of the tunnel, if you only just bear it. The worst part, as is in the case of Aneni, it is women themselves who perpetuate these patriarchal dogmas.

This story is heart-wrenching. I thank the author for bringing it to light, and most importantly, for taking time to listen to this courageous woman’s story of survival.          

ONLY BIG BUM BUM MATTERS TOMORROW

Author: Demilare  Kuku

Publisher: Picador Africa

Reviewer: Hazel Makuzeni

In need to reinvent herself (with hopes of being idolised and validated), 20-year-old Temi has decided that having a big butt is what she needs. She’s been ridiculed throughout her school years, and she’s had enough. Enough of being mocked and called names such as; Mopstick or Blackboard – now she takes charge of her destiny especially since she has just graduated from university. The world should truly be Temi’s oyster. But life is complex.  

Temi’s wonderful father has just died. Her family is distraught by the passing of the family pillar and has gathered at the family home. She has put off telling them about her plans to surgically enlarge her buttocks for some time, and now seems to be the best available moment to do so. Not only is her mother and the prodigal older sister there, but also her aunties. The news doesn’t go down well. Her mother and aunties are hysterical. In hindsight, I think, this might not have been perfect timing. I mean her family is grieving. But then again, has there ever been perfect timing? She’s accused of madness. She’s viewed as a disgrace. She’s someone possessed, and will ruin the family’s reputation in Ile-Ife. What’s more, Temi plans to leave the place she grew-up in for the sprawling metropolis that is Lagos.

Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow explores issues of beauty, identity, body shaming, the extensive role played by social media and the scourge of celebrity revering in cultivating a culture that value looks and material gains over character at any cost. Set in Nigeria, the novel also surveys the lives and secrets held by the women in Temi’s life. Each character storyline is done fine justice by the author. In the end, I have sympathy for the women even though they are infuriating at times.       

A CROWN THAT LASTS

Author: Demi-Leigh Tebow

Publisher: Lux Verbi

Reviewer: Hazel Makuzeni

“Trophies and awards – even my Miss Universe crown – are not bad things; they just can’t be our everything,” so asserts Demi-Leigh Tebow in her self-help book, A Crown That Lasts. After years of dedicating her life toward the crown, she certainly knows what she’s talking about. This is a young woman who had been mesmerised by the Miss South Africa pageant since childhood and when she finally became one, Miss Universe was the ultimate next prize.  At the time, South Africa had not won the title in 39 years! In the book she shares her sacrifices and complete devotion toward that goal. She got a life coach, a pageant coach, a personal trainer, a public-speaking coach, and even stopped speaking Afrikaans for a few months to better her English.

“I hired make-up artists and hairstylists to teach me how to appear perfect every day,” she says. So, you can just imagine the shock to her system when her reign as Miss Universe came to an end. Her sense of purpose, her confidence, and identity was obliterated.  In the book she journeys with the reader by sharing compelling stories dealing with seasons of loneliness, feelings of hopelessness, utter trauma, and challenging circumstances. Even though she’s a firm believer in God’s eternal love, she’s earnest enough to talk about her faith being shaken throughout her teenage years and early adulthood. The thread that runs throughout the book is that of compassion. Having compassion for yourself and valuing every human being. For the author this is a lived-experience as an anti-human trafficking advocate.  She also believes that excellence is the absolute antidote to perfection. In fact, she encourages the reader to strive for excellence instead of perfection. Perfection, as she says, often involves an unattainable goal, while excellence encourages growth.  

The book relies heavily on scripture from the Bible. I think this might be a deterrent for some who don’t believe in, or subscribe to Christianity. The author is explicit in her belief. As someone who grew-up in a Christian environment, I have no qualms about the book and its approach. I do wonder though – what if I did not grow-up Methodist? Would some of the insights offered be lost to me or irrelevant?  Either way, she has much insight to share.

THE RACE TO BE MYSELF

Author: Caster Semenya

Publisher: Jonathan Ball

Reviewer:  Nancy Richards

What this book reminded me is that there is no such thing as ‘fair’ – not in love, life, war or peace, and certainly not in sport. How can it be fair that one athlete is faster, stronger, higher, or that they have a different build, from another? That one woman has a more able body than another, that one man has a louder voice, that one child is born into a wealthier family…the list is endless really. So how do you compare, how do you measure and how do you award? I suppose the difference is, not just what a person is ‘given,’ so much as how they use it. ‘From whom much is given, much is expected’ as the saying goes. So who gets to stand on the podium – the one who got more than their fair share of gifts, or the one who trained harder?

Caster or Mokgadi Semenya’s story in The Race To Be Myself contains no answers, nor hard and fast rules that everyone can abide by, and definitely not agree on. But it does make you appreciate how difficult it is for anyone to deal with being ‘different’ – whatever that may look like. If she comes across as ‘angry’ as some suggest, when you read what she had to undergo to follow her calling – sex tests, debilitating medication, the threat of gonadectomy*, the stares, being the target, the case study, the law suit – it’s hardly surprising. She’s very clear about her anger towards the treatment she received from the IAAF (International Amateur Athletics Federation), other sporting bodies and individuals. But she’s even more clear about who she is: ‘I am Caster. I will always be myself’. What she’s not: hermaphrodite. Where she comes from: Ga Masehlong in Limpopo, and what she’s been put on the planet for: to run. ‘Running makes me feel free. God and my ancestors have given me something greater.’ As Trevor Noah’s quote on the cover says, hers is ‘a tale or perseverance and poise.’ Not an easy nor a comfortable one, but it is the story of how one woman has handled, is handling, being ‘different’. Can’t say fairer than that.

*gonads are the organs that develop into ovaries or testes

SINGLE MINDED

Author: Marina Auer

Publisher: Kwela Books
Reviewer: Hazel Makuzeni

The ominous cover alone sends chills down ones spine. Looking at it I knew this is a hospital full of dread and harm. And as a super fan of horror, I just had to get in. I’m glad I did! I was not disappointed, not one bit. Written by a medical doctor, the book is a fascinating tale of what it’s like being a doctor in a township state hospital in South Africa. As author marina Auer says, “Single Minded is loosely based on my experiences during internship and community service at a hospital outside Pietermaritzburg, KZN.” The wanton decay and impunity in the book is regrettably also true. “Rats in beds; chickens in autoclaves; a crumbling edifice; a dent in the corrugated iron roof of the tunnel where a patient leapt from a window – it all happened, and so much more.”
Our heroine Murphy Meyer, is a young doctor with an unsettled past. The year is 2001 when she begins work at Eden State Hospital in Pietermaritzburg on the 1st of January. She’s thrown right into the deep-end on her very first day – mind you it is New Year’s Eve so there are plenty of casualties awaiting – with no time to settle in. The hospital is based in the poverty-stricken township of Eden Ridge and deals mainly with birth, trauma and broken bones. The state of the hospital is dire, badly in need of an overhaul and doctors are leaving in droves. Something is amiss and patients are dying at the drop of a hat. Dark forces are at full play, and maybe the stories of a menacing tokoloshe roaming the corridors are true. One thing’s for sure, Dr Murphy is in a labyrinth and the walls are quickly closing in. It’s a thrilling suspense.
Most of us already know that state hospitals are not for the faint-hearted. There are long queues, sick people sleeping on the cold floor as a result of overcrowding, misdiagnoses, lack of security and so on and so forth. As someone who goes to state hospitals both as a patient and a visitor, I’ve witnessed the dedication and the fatigue that plague hospital personnel. I’ve experienced the caring and also the callousness of medical staff. The last time I’ve stayed over, I vowed (and prayed) never to have to be there again. The author paints this picture perfectly. You see dedication amidst disarray. And the stifling progress of bureaucracy. At Eden it’s the good and the awfully bad all at once.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH JUNE?

Author: Qarnita Loxton
Publisher: Kwela Books
Reviewer: Nancy Richards

For me Qarnita Loxton’s books are like breaths of fresh air. After some fatter, more dense and demanding recent reads, I launched into What’s Wrong with June? with joy – lungs wide open. Not that her books are light or slight, in fact they do demand of you to think quite reflectively about your own actions and judgements. I won’t list all those in her earlier ‘Being’ books – Shelley, Kari, Dianne and Lily – but each of them, and this one, although not in the series, touches on an ‘issue’ or collection of ‘issues’ that makes you feel that Qarnita’s career experience was not wasted. She did her time as an attorney, but I would say certainly picked up a thing or two studying psychology, and undoubtedly made some close observations as a coaching executive. But it’s her empathy that makes her such an appealing writer.
I don’t know if she knows an absolutely real life ‘June’ – the dependable 40 something wife and mum who has just ‘had it’ with looking after a netflixing husband and princess-daddy’s-girl daughter as well as appeasing the rest of her ‘Big Family’ on WhatsApp and in the flesh, who does a ‘Shirley Valentine’ and hops off to Mauritius to spend time with her bestie – but if she doesn’t she sure has been listening to her friends. Who could, or would, judge someone who does that? Who’s to say how much a girl should or shouldn’t put up with if other people’s behaviour, or lack of it, is stressing her out to distraction – not to say limiting her very being, never mind being happy?
So there are lots of questions here – what would YOU have done? How would you handle the unhappy, and extended family? Would you or wouldn’t you submit to the dark-blue-eyed stranger? And would you or wouldn’t you dive with the dolphins in the deep when you’ve only just learnt to swim? And what for you, would constitute a happy ending? And the only way to find out, is to read the book and decide for yourself.

PURE EVIL

Author: Lynda La Plante
Publisher: Zaffre
Reviewer: Beryl Eichenberger

The devil is in the detail…and in ‘Pure Evil’ by Lynda La Plante – she spares us nothing.
Sometimes too much detail detracts from a good read – but here, well, La Plante knows her audience. Detail is exactly what we want: to set the scene, follow a criminal mind, enjoy some down time with the protagonists, take us one step at a time towards the conclusion.  If ever you wanted to know a British police procedural here it is…
I was privileged to attend a virtual interview with La Plante at Franschhoek and, while I had loved the Prime Suspect TV series, had never read any of her books. But here she was larger than life, talking fast, furiously funny, giving snippets of her life and we were lapping it up. I was hooked. You might say it took me a while but hey, so many books too little time and she’s getting her fair share of good and gracious reviews. But I received this book with delight and read it almost in a sitting.
Two stories run concurrently in ‘Pure Evil’, fourth in the DC Jack Warr series and oh how La Plante  loves planting (excuse the pun) seeds of suspicion, of discontent. Jack is a good detective, if a bit of a loner, a maverick. His intuition is sharp and when Rodney Middleton is arrested for armed assault, his gut tells him there is more to this than meets they eye…and of course there is. Playing the system is Middleton’s forte and his girlfriend, underage Amanda is disarming – until she isn’t. Warr is most definitely going to dig, and dig. What he finds is unnerving – and all too real. It’s the seedy side of London and ugly!
As his boss DCI Simon Ridley always said ‘never assume – go back on everything’, which is exactly how Warr operates. When Ridley is suddenly removed from his post and accused of murder, he asks Warr to investigate – off the record. There’s a lot to unravel as Warr finds, and much more than is on the face of the case…rewinding, drag queens, dating agencies, all come under the lens  and it’s not pretty.  Never obvious, the trails are twisted and delve into the psyches of criminal minds.
La Plante’s characters are relatable – Warr’s family are likeable and readers will empathise with their woes; she creates the right ambience, situations are very believable and of course the crimes add up.  The fast and furious pace underlines the extensive research she undertakes and reflects her own personality. Masterful and murderous, La Plante exudes an infectious energy in her stories.

WATER AND UNTIL AUGUST

Author – Water: John Boyne
Publisher – Water: Doubleday

Author – Until August: Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Publisher – Until August: Penguin Viking

Reviewer: Beryl Eichenberger

One of the things that drew me to these two novels (or maybe novellas is the right description) Water by John Boyne and Until August by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was the fact that these two authors were writing from a woman’s perspective. And so poignantly and with such authenticity that it was as if they had burrowed into the female psyche and, in the lyrical way of these writers, verbalized thoughts and feelings. Both books use an island as a theme, perhaps symbolic for wanting to be isolated, live another life, start afresh. Whatever the motivations, it works and these are books that will intrigue and make you look at your fellow female with new eyes.
John Boyne’s ‘Water’ is the first in a quartet of novels named after the elements. There’s something about Irish writers… their pen touches the page with a surety that is at times gentle, at others harsh and yet forgiving. They write of the heart and the demons inside us, the choices we make, they delve under the layers to tease out a truth.
Vanessa Carvin has escaped from Dublin to a small island off the Irish coast. With inhabitants numbering about 400 she is trying to hide from the scandal and notoriety that has beset her and her family. Changing her name and look is her first mission. As Willow Hale, ensconced in a small cottage, this is a time for reflection, for understanding her decisions throughout her life, her perceived complicity, and to try and make peace with herself. I almost felt it was a love letter to her daughters, the one dead, the other distant.
What is it like to live with a controlling man, to play the perfect wife, to be blind to a truth, to live with guilt, to forgive yourself? Boyne sharply dissects the patriarchy who believe they have rights over women, the narcissism and underlying hate that blinds them and the women that play into the scenario. But he does this with an empathy that explores conditioning and expectations. He does not judge but allows the reader to do that.  My sense was that he uses water as the reflection of who we are now, the ripples that change that, and what lies beneath the surface.  This is a thoughtful, searingly honest novel that explores a situation that sadly is all too familiar.

Columbian Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, possibly ‘one of the greatest visionary writers of our time’, died in 2014. ‘Until August’ has been termed the ‘lost novel’ since it was a manuscript that he had been working on since 1999, had five versions, a struggle with the ending and was put aside. The Journey to publication was not without its twists and turns, and is told in a touching addendum from the editor of the Spanish edition, Christóbal Pera.  Some would say this novella does not do the great author justice however that is for the reader to decide. I enjoyed the gentle lyricism of the book, the underlying dissatisfaction of the protagonist and her protest against her closeted yet happy life.
Ana Magdelena Bach is the protagonist – she has been happily married for 25 years, her husband is a good man, and their relationship is one of respect, care and easy intimacy. A virgin at marriage she has a satisfying sex life with her husband. When her mother dies and is buried on a small island it is Ana’s wish to visit her grave every August, on the anniversary of her death. She wants to be alone with her mother. The ferry ride is a time for reflection, her arrival marked by some familiarity of faces and places: as the years pass so does the terrain she explores and that includes herself.  Each year she finds a new lover for that one night only. Perhaps unnamed, certainly unexpected although she dresses accordingly and earmarks her man.  This is her abandonment to the conventions of her life. Her guilt and fear on her return to her husband is measurable casting an uneasiness which extends to her thinking he may be having an affair! And as they skirt around each other it is her last visit to the grave and a surprising encounter that will be the decider for their future.
In its 125 pages it is a story to be read with amusement – Ana’s elaborate preparations for her evening intent on picking up a lover; surprise – in the lovers she chooses; emotion – for what drives her and finally peace – as she sees how this must be resolved. While this is not the master’s best work it is one that held a place in his heart and to my mind is fitting that it should have been published.

THE COMRADE’S WIFE

Author: Barbara Bosell
Publisher: Jacana Media (2024)
Reviewer: Cynthia Marais

Tall, dark and handsome Neill turns out to be less than perfect in this novel that gradually draws Anita, the protagonist, into his life, including flying her to Bloemfontein to meet Mother.
Anita is a Cape Town academic in a white, male dominated department, where she is told to her face that she was hired as window-dressing, and that this does not absolve her from publishing articles – the reason her position became available in the first place. Fortunately, she is part of a group of three friends that meet every so often, and this makes her life bearable. Her friends decide that she needs more fun in her life and urge her to join a dating site. Here she meets the attractive, charming and wealthy Neill, an ex-comrade, close to his (all female) family in Bloemfontein.
Anita can’t believe how wonderful he seems and brings her research skills to bear in checking out his personal history, credit-worthiness, standing, political truths, and the veracity of everything he tells her. He comes up spotless. Then he invites her on a weekend to meet his family. Everybody likes her, tells her they are glad he’s met her, sings his praises, and tells her that he’s had a difficult childhood as a child soldier and freedom fighter; they are immensely proud of him.
This sets the background for the story of their courtship and marriage.
Neill is a rising politician, well regarded, principled, and passionate about his chosen career. He becomes her devoted husband and seems utterly committed to his party, his duty, his family and, it appears, her.
Yet Neill often leaves Anita hanging: he doesn’t take her along on trips when he could; she often can’t get hold of him; he doesn’t call her when she expects him to; he abandons her for work at critical moments, and he resents her questioning him about this.
Set in South Africa between 2016 and 2018 when Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, launched an investigation into state capture after receiving formal complaints from, amongst others Stanislaus Muyebe of the Dominican Order of Southern Africa and the leader of the opposition. The first report of her investigation, entitled State of Capture, caused a major scandal. The commission found that multiple incidents of state capture took place within South African government departments and state-owned enterprises during the presidency of Jacob Zuma, and that senior officials routinely broke the law. Whether these events inform the closing sections of the book, or whether it was a matter of precognition and/or synchronicity, there are strong parallels between the events played out in the activities of Neill and what was happening in South Africa at the time.
Overall, a good read, filled with interesting personalities, betrayals and difficult situations. Anita is an imperfect, well-drawn character with all the flaws and personal shortcomings one would expect in a real person. She rings true, but for me, Neill’s personality remains elusive and, to the end, he continues to be more of a persona than a person.

THE FINISH LINE

Author: Gail Schimmel
Publisher: Pan MacMillan
Reviewer: Beryl Eichenberger

We’ve all met them, the friend who turns out to be toxic, resentful, competitive. Who, for some reason interrupts our lives on a regular and unnerving basis, and we let them in. But what happens when that ‘friend’ goes one step too far, threatening a secure and loving family? Mothers are lionesses when it comes to their kids and so it is with Brenda Critchley, Gail Schimmel’s latest protagonist in her seventh novel ‘The Finish Line’.
Dubbed the queen of domestic noir, Schimmel unpacks the viciousness that lies beneath the surface of Johannesburg suburbia in this measured, eminently readable story. Then she shakes you out of your complacency…
Brenda has worked hard to fit in to the Joburg scene. Her parents are not part of the wealthy elite. They are so focused on running that their daughter Brenda is a bit of a by-product to their lives. And Brenda adapts. But she has inherited the running gene, getting her a scholarship to a very smart girl’s school as a boarder. Turns out she‘s the fastest girl in the school, much to the chagrin of day-girl Denver who was the school’s star and to the delight of her coterie of friends, The Alphabet Girls, Brenda’s staunchest allies throughout her life. But Denver’s homelife is certainly not ideal, her wealthy parents are competitive, and cruel – traits she has inherited – she will stop at nothing to satisfy her needs. ‘Denver gets what she wants – always’ She befriends Brenda, slyly putting her down, intercepting her life, stealing her ideas, a sort of Jekyll and Hyde friend who Brenda tolerates, drops and then befriends again.
It’s a merry-go=round of slights throughout their lives, yet Brenda remains the nice girl, finding her fit when she marries her soulmate, becomes a doctor, produces her children. She understands the veiled kindnesses, knowing the repercussions to come. She tolerates, finds excuses, accepts – until her family are threatened – and she doesn’t!
It’s a spiral that will leave you gasping –  a finish line that is oh so sweet.
Schimmel always brings us good characterization, while Branda is kind, she has a tough, driven core. Maturing from schoolgirls to mid-life, the reader grows with each person. Experiencing the joys, sorrows, frustrations and anger of the twisted trajectory.  The unacceptable social behaviour is unpacked and laid wide open. Schimmel takes her pen and uses a it as a torch to shine a light on the damaged, unfulfilled people to whom wealth and status are more important than tolerance, family and friends.  She gets under the veneers, exposing the wrinkles, until the cracks become terrifying ravines.  Another great read to keep on my bookshelf.

RECIPES TO ‘DIE’ LIVE FOR

Author: Sally Andrew
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Reviewer: Nancy Richards

It was the shweshwe on the cover that did it. Then again it may have been the rather sensuous heart-shaped chocolate cake. But a quick flick through the body of the comfortingly soft-back book, and finally it was most definitely the Spekboom Ice Cream that spoke to me. Spekboom ice cream for heaven’s sake, you just don’t get more S’efrican than that! I earmarked it immediately for my book club, but noted that Tannie Marie had devised the recipe exclusively for the birthday party of a goat named Mildred who had escaped from her owner, Goat Lady’s bakkie to nibble the juicy plant in the veld. Also noted that the decadent confection on the cover is in fact a Venus Cake combining chocolate, coffee, cream, apricot jam and peanut butter. Say no more.
Cards on the table, I am a dyed-in-the-wool Tannie Maria fan. And for those who’ve been under a literary rock for the last decade, Tannie Maria is the fifty something curly-headed soul who lives in the Karoo and writes an agony-aunt styled cookery column for the Klein Karoo Gazette. The twist in the sheep’s tail is that, due to a set of accidental circumstances, she also doubles as an amateur detective.
When I first spoke to author Sally Andrew back in 2015 on the publication of her Recipes for Love and Murder – a Tannie Maria mystery and she told me she planned to write a series, I thought, to be honest, she may have lost it. Was this not a little niche as a genre? Well, four books and a very successful TV series later, how wrong was I! So Ms Andrews has now seriously put her mouth where Maria is, and to quote the Tannie herself “So here it is, at last, my recipe book. Which is what I wanted to do all along but murders kept getting in the way. And love.” Nothing if not a serious romantic our Maria.
Whilst it’s primarily about comfort cooking – think Tamatiebredie, Creamy Potato Bake, Marmalade Rusks and Apricot Jam – it’s really the nostalgic romance of the Karoo that makes this book so covetable, if not cuddleable. In these days of online everything, most especially recipes, cookbooks are almost a thing of the past. But that is exactly what this book is – dishes styled with old enamel, sieves and griddles, weather-worn timber, crank handles, cake tins and cross-stitch embroidered napkins – it is an irresistibly delicious Thing of the Past. But as anyone who has read about or watched Tannie Maria in action will know, she’s also a gal with a keen eye on the present, and what and who matters within it. On who matters, the really nostalgic ingredients are the ‘hand-written’ letters from ‘clients’ in the community as well as Maria’s thoughtfully penned replies. And on what matters the essence of the book, the very flavour of it, are the evocative Karoo visuals complete with windpumps, aloes, storm clouds and even a bokkie.
Other TM fans will be especially pleased to note recipes for their best-loved characters: Karel the Mechanic’s Chocolate Mousse, Pikkie’s Pumpkin Pie, Zabanguni’s Harissa Paste amongst others, and of course, Henk’s Favourite. But you’ll have to buy the book to find out what that is. Enjoy!

PRESENT TENSE

Author: Natalie Conyer
Publisher: Penguin
Reviewer: Beryl Eichenberger

’d like to give a warm welcome to the newest detective on the local crime thriller scene. Captain Schalk Lourens – without the Oom, for those who remember the Herman Charles Bosman character –  an amusing side bar to my mind.  He makes his entrance in the debut novel Present Tense by Natalie Conyer.
The author was born in Cape Town but now lives in Sydney, Australia and this police procedural has already won the Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime in Australia, was shortlisted for the Davitt Awards and voted one of the best reads of the year by The Australian newspaper.

I enjoy SA crime thrillers: the familiarity of the terrain, the very real characters that try so hard to protect us; the patois, and even the sad reminders of the underbelly of our beautiful city.  Sadly, we live in a crime ridden country, and while some events might seem outrageous and exaggerated, those who live here know better. Material for the would-be writer but not everyone gets it right. Conyer does.
Our Captain is a good South African; married; former rugby player; veteran of the SA Police force; home in the Northern suburbs. When his former boss and mentor Piet Pieterse is found murdered on his wine farm – necklaced – an execution from the apartheid era and usually reserved for township collaborators, Lourens can feel the past rising up again. For Piet was a brutal cop, fiercely upholding the apartheid regime, with methods that Lourens fell foul of as a rookie.
A young tik addict is convicted of the crime and it’s case closed, but Lourens knows there’s more to this than meets the eye and off we set on a pacy, realistic ride. Because the thing about Lourens is he is a seeker of the truth and nothing gets in his way. He’s incorruptible, not averse to a little sexual temptation, doesn’t take well to authority, a bit of a maverick and not scared to face up to his opponents. And he has a great wingman in Joepie Fortune.
The story line bursts with action centred on the lead up to elections, a Commander with friends in high places and a charismatic new leader tipped as the new Mandela – we are thrown into the chaos that surrounds power, wealth and inevitable corruption.
Conyer has created well rounded characters: not least our Schalk; the feisty young Winnie Mbotho whose astuteness must not go unnoticed: and a team that divides the best from the worst. It seemed to me to be a good round up of the good, the bad and the very ugly! She has used real events to illustrate Lourens and Pieterse’s past history giving it authenticity. As I read I was reminded of Mike Nicol crime thrillers so it was no surprise to see he was an advisor. But it certainly does not take away from the assured writing and well executed plot.
All in all, a great debut and I shall look forward to the next Lourens mystery.