Book Choice - August 2018

Andrew Marjoribanks, Wordsworth Books, gives us a bagful of the best in fiction and non-fiction. Peter Soal ponders Ramaphosa’s Turn by Ralph Mathekga who wonders whether Ramaphosa can pull South Africa out of our current quatmire. Yes, says Mathekga. Melvyn Minnaar finds happiness in his latest favourite novel Happiness by Aminatta Forma, while Vanessa Levenstein reviews two novels by lauded and applauded South African writers: Craig Higgonson’s The White House and Maya Fowler’s Patagonia – A Fugue. John Hanks, happiest holidaying in the vast spaces of the Karoo, finds a superproduction in Mitch Reardon’s Wild Karoo - A Journey Through History, Change and Revival in an ancient lan. Lesley Beaker, cautious about animal stories for children, praises Gareth Patterson’s beautiful Born to be Free, a true tale of three lion cubs. Cindy Moritz declares The Death of Truth a little gem written by Pulitzer prize-winner Michiko Kakutani, while balletomnane Sheila Chisholm is kept on her tippy-toes by the biography David Poole – A Life Blighted by Apartheid.