My Books
These are the novels I've derived enormous pleasure writing. I hope you enjoy them too!
Yellowbone
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Karabo, a light-skinned girl living in Mthatha, grew up with the hurtful cry of ‘yellowbone’ ringing in her ears. She hears her parents argue, not realising that the question of her paternity is the cause.
On a scholarship in London, Karabo attends a private recital, where an antique violin binds her fate to that of virtuoso André Potgieter. He hides an inconceivable secret – though no saint himself, he is visited by angels. And he’d do anything to keep seeing them.
Spanning South Africa, Britain and Ghana, Yellowbone is an enthralling novel exploring identity, justice, deceit and truth.
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The God Who Made Mistakes
Behind the closed doors of their suburban Johannesburg home, Themba and Ayanda Hlatshwayo, both legal professionals, are beset by deep tensions that claw with relentless intensity at the polished facade of their lives. Ayanda seeks solace in dance classes, while Themba is increasingly drawn to the male companionship he finds at a book club.
With wit and sympathy, The God Who Made Mistakes explores the origins of Themba's unease and confused sense of identity. It takes us back to a river bank in Alex, the township where he grew up, and to a boy he once knew who met a violent death there. As the story peels back the painful layers of recollection, Themba’s domineering mother, Differentia, has a major decision to make. When developers set their sights on buying the family home and building a supermarket in its place, tendrils of envy and greed begin to curl out of unexpected quarters, as the unscrupulous seek to grab a share of the spoils. Back yard tenant, Tinyiko, with her short skirts and questionable morality, and Themba’s disgraced, unemployed elder brother, Bongani, begin to plot and scheme, while across town Themba’s fragile marriage faces its biggest challenge. When his past walks unexpectedly into his present, it threatens to blow apart his carefully constructed world. The God Who Made Mistakes is a powerful, poignant story of unexpressed longings which, when finally uttered, can no longer be contained.
Click here to buy on Amazon.com
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With wit and sympathy, The God Who Made Mistakes explores the origins of Themba's unease and confused sense of identity. It takes us back to a river bank in Alex, the township where he grew up, and to a boy he once knew who met a violent death there. As the story peels back the painful layers of recollection, Themba’s domineering mother, Differentia, has a major decision to make. When developers set their sights on buying the family home and building a supermarket in its place, tendrils of envy and greed begin to curl out of unexpected quarters, as the unscrupulous seek to grab a share of the spoils. Back yard tenant, Tinyiko, with her short skirts and questionable morality, and Themba’s disgraced, unemployed elder brother, Bongani, begin to plot and scheme, while across town Themba’s fragile marriage faces its biggest challenge. When his past walks unexpectedly into his present, it threatens to blow apart his carefully constructed world. The God Who Made Mistakes is a powerful, poignant story of unexpressed longings which, when finally uttered, can no longer be contained.
Click here to buy on Amazon.com
Click here to buy online from other retailers
Dying in New York
Dying in New York is a haunting tale of Lerato, a black South African girl from a comfortable middle class family living in Johannesburg. The story begins when Lerato is twelve but all too soon it becomes starkly apparent that all is not well with her. Lerato's father, a respected member of the community, abuses her regularly and with cruel impunity. In this sea of vicious betrayal, Lerato longs to land at the one place in the world that offers her refuge, New York. For Lerato, it becomes a wonderful and mystical city, full of magic and laughter. The story transitions seamlessly between a psychiatrist's office overlooking the Hudson River, where Lerato traces the painful arc of her life, to the underworld of prostitution and vice at the southern tip of Africa, as seen through the eyes of a young girl. It's Lerato story and she tells it with wit and keen observation from the first page until the novel’s unexpected climax.
Click here to buy on Amazon.com
Click here to buy on Kalahari
Click here to buy on Amazon.com
Click here to buy on Kalahari
White Wahalla
Wahalla is a Nigerian slang word that means “trouble”. White Wahalla is a story about a man who finds himself unable to cope with the rapidly changing world around him. That man is a notoriously brutal township money lender who goes by the name of Cash Tshabalala. Through a twist of fate, Cash lends money to the son of a fabulously white South African family. And when the young man, a closet drug user, forgets to keep his side of the transaction, Cash’s violent reaction is the catalyst for a descent into chaos, both for him and for the Nicholson family. But it’s not just Cash who finds himself lost in the new South Africa, the Nicholson family does as well. Their matriarch, Agatha Nicholson, is bewildered by the populist events Cash brings in his wake. It’s a book that works on several levels: I like to think it is humorous, tender, graphic and insightful. The story strides across the traditional dividing lines of race, class, sex and age to take an irreverent and hard hitting look at South African society.
Click here to buy on Amazon.com
Click here to buy on Kalahari
Click here to buy on Amazon.com
Click here to buy on Kalahari