book bites
Water Music ★★★★ ★ Margie Orford (Jonathan Ball, R145)
BOOK thrill
Police profiler Dr Clare Hart’s life is in turmoil. She is facing a personal crisis, her lover is deep undercover, and her special unit to investigate child-related crimes is being threatened by politics and bureaucracy. The discovery of an emaciated child in the mountains above Hout Bay forces her to put her personal life on hold, and she’s soon deeply involved in two seemingly unrelated cases. With time running out and the bodies piling up, Dr Hart has no choice but to pursue her leads alone, putting her in more danger than she’s ever been before. Water Music marks the triumphant return of South Africa’s queen of crime, Margie Orford. It’s nail-biting crime fiction at its best. — Sally Partridge @sapartridge
Home Affairs ★★★ ★★ Edited by Carien Lubbe-De Beer and John Marnell (Fanele, R210)
BOOK buff
This new collection of essays and interviews challenges the myth of “normalcy” in everyday family life and explores what being part of a same-sex family means. Theory-heavy topics range from how the media represents same-sex families to planned lesbian parenting. There’s no lack of data and analysis to chew over, but at the same time there are striking and thought-provoking interviews. Nhlanhla and Fanney have been in a relationship for the past 15 years. Nhlanhla says: “I think the difference between the family I have with Fanney and my biological family is that I can express myself when I’m with Fanney.” — Jennifer Platt @jenniferdplatt
Perfect ★★★★★ Rachel Joyce (Doubleday, R250)
BOOK buff
The eloquent and beautifully written The Unlikely Pilgrimage
of Harold Fry would seem a tough act to follow, but Rachel Joyce manages to get it right again in her second novel. It’s 1972. Meet Byron, an 11-year-old boy who is distressed by the two seconds that need to be added to clocks to match the Earth’s rotation. In a parallel storyline stands Jim, afflicted with OCD and living in a camper van. What makes this story a pointed stand-out among its contemporaries is Joyce’s ability to throw her characters into the frying pan and watch them sweat. Perfect is perfect to read weeping and laughing beneath a warm duvet. — Kelly Ansara @QueenKelso