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Our sunshine noir (crime fiction under the sun) author for July is Karin Brynard

Brynard grew up in the Northern Cape and many of her books are set in that dramatic, semi-arid landscape. We asked her about Our Fathers.

Your book tackles big themes in South Africa: the decay of the family unit; alienation, and different views about relationships and race. Did you set out to address these, or do they inevitably arise in South African crime fiction now? If you shadow one ordinary cop in the South African Police Service for a day, you will most likely stumble across every one of the “big themes” of this country. Cops stand at the coal face of all the realities of life here, ranging from racism to the rape of babies. That’s where my stories happen too, so addressing the “issues” becomes inevitable.

The question everybody asks is why. Why do we see so much violence; such brutality accompanying crime? We realise this is a complex society grappling with huge challenges — ranging from poverty to greed, urbanisation, and the disintegration of cultures and belief systems. It is a society under pressure, exposing all the cracks.

For more, go to www.bookslive.co.za