The hottest reads of the week
You’ll find these four new reads impossible to put down
COLOUR ME YELLOW
By THULI NHLAPO NB Publishers Halfway through reading this book my heart refused to believe it was a true story. How could someone go through so much pain, rejection and abuse and live to tell the tale so gracefully?
Colour Me Yellow is award-winning journalist Thuli Nhlapo’s memoir about how she went about searching for her family truth. Just by reading the synopsis and the first few pages you establish three things: Nhlapo’s mother wishes she was never born; she’s the black sheep of the family; and she suffers a tremendous amount of physical, emotional and verbal abuse as a result.
But Nhlapo never allows herself to wallow in self-pity. Even in the final pages where the shocking truth about her life is revealed, she remains pretty detached.
What’s thoroughly explored however is African tradition and how she went about finding and eventually accepting her calling to become a traditional healer. This is a fascinating read. – PAM MAGWAZA
THE LAST MRS PARRISH
By LIV CONSTANTINE HarperCollins Amber Patterson has a plan. She wants to live the life of an extremely rich woman – and she’s found just the person who can make her dream come true.
Daphne Parrish has no idea her new friend, Amber, desperately covets her designer wardrobe, mansion, lavish holidays and her handsome, incredibly wealthy husband, so she welcomes her into her home. They bond over the fact they’ve lost someone they loved and Amber insinuates herself into practically every part of Daphne’s life.
But a secret in Amber’s past could come back to haunt her.
This book is divided into two parts and it’s especially the second part that will have you gripped. Although some might work out how the story will unfold, the way in which it does still makes this a satisfying read.
This debut by sisters Lynne and Valerie Constantine is a great weekend read. Pack the kids off for a few hours, get a glass of wine or two ready and settle in until the end. – CHARLENE ROLLS
THE GIRL WHO TAKES AN EYE FOR AN EYE
By DAVID LAGERCRANTZ Quercus Lisbeth Salander is back in this second offering from Lagercrantz. The Swedish author is continuing the work started by Stieg Larsson, who died in 2014, and he doesn’t disappoint. Although this Salander isn’t quite as intense, not quite as violent and not quite as Salandery, she’s still a fierce force to be reckoned with.
In this instalment she’s been sent to jail for a short stint. Unsurprisingly, trouble finds her and in typical Salander fashion she has a take-no-prisoners approach.
She once again delves into her past but is also preoccupied with Faria, a young woman she met while behind bars. She wants to find out why fragile Faria was found guilty of murder when she looks as if she could barely kill an ant.
Other storylines merge with Lisbeth’s – although at times it does feel as if there are entirely separate stories without her presence, giving it a disjointed feel. It will be interesting to see where the story goes in future books. This felt like much more of a standalone than any of the others. – CHARLENE ROLLS
About the author
David Lagercrantz is a Swedish journalist and the author of the bestselling sports biography I Am Zlatan Ibrahimović.
MUNICH
By ROBERT HARRIS Knopf It was a defining moment in history when in September 1938 British prime minister Neville Chamberlain stepped off a plane and declared, “Peace for our time.” He’d just returned from the hastily convened Munich Conference where world leaders frantically tried – and failed – to prevent Adolf Hitler from annexing Czechoslovakia.
Harris is a master of illuminating history by inserting fictional characters into real events, and in this pacy novel he does this to great effect. Hugh Legat, an upand-coming member of the British diplomatic service, finds himself heading for Munich where he’ll encounter Paul von Hartmann, his former Oxford pal, who holds a similar position to him in the Nazi government.
Hartmann, who despises Hitler and is actively plotting to bring him down, passes top secret documents to Legat revealing Hitler’s true ambitions and it becomes a race against time to convince Chamberlain of what’s at stake.
Over four feverish days tension mounts palpably, guns are cocked and not fired, and a death-defying trip through Nazi Munich reveals the horror of what’s to come.
Sadly we all know what happened next. World War 2 is hardly a spoiler alert but Harris chillingly conveys how the slightest twist of fate can change history. Entertaining and thought-provoking. – SANDY COOK