‘Notably rustic African novel’ stands tall
A BICYCLE, A CHESS SET, AN AFRICAN RIVER
Shiloh Noone Naledi
SHILOH Noone, largely known for his historical music shows like Songcatcher (Fine Music Radio) or the Magic Bus on Cape Talk Radio, has just released his “notably rustic African novel” titled A Bicycle, a Chess Set, an African River.
Currently sitting as No 1 best seller at the Somerset West Branch and at No 6 at the Cavendish branch of Exclusive Books stores, the humble stacked paperback stands boldly and proudly next to the gigantic Wilbur Smith new release. Shiloh says with a grin, “It may be small in stature, but it has a great heart, perhaps the one Juluka sang about.”
Shiloh Noone, who penned the 4-star Rolling Stone rock history book Seekers Guide to the Rhythm of Yesteryear, says that this is his official debut novel with a film deal hanging in the loom through Warren Batchelor.
The story is about an engineer called Pat Simmons, who on forced retirement decided to teach chess at a mission station across the crocodile-infested Mbuluzi River, run by a retired Scottish mercenary affectionately known as Father Angus. It carries all the African adventure and mystery that one would expect and a lot more.
Notably, Shiloh is not emulating the trend-setting chess fashion, but in his personal capacity has taught chess in townships for the last five years under Chess for Change and coupled with an internet article about how Zulu children wade across a croc-infested Tugela to attend school, was the initial inspiration to the story.
In the book, an eventual abduction of the children by poachers, leads to the children teaching chess to their abductors and a visible change transpires among the hardened rebels.
In a nutshell, it is, above all, a story about the triumph of the human spirit against the odds.