Book Bites
The Twinkling of an Eye: ★★★★★ A Mother’s Journey Sue Brown, Human & Rousseau, R230
The Browns are an ordinary family. They have two lovely children (Meg and Craig), good friends, and a home that welcomed others. They also have a ghastly cuckoo in the nest, a life-threatening tumour that was discovered in Craig’s brain when he was 12. His mother wrote this book after his death. The story is horrifyingly accurate. She spares no one in the telling of it. This is an unflinching book about a cruel death, but one that puts living at the centre of death. ● Jennifer Crocker @malleson30
Our Hearts Will Burn Us Down ★★★ Anne Valente, William Morrow, R250
Valente takes you down the bloodied school corridor, under the desks in the classrooms, to the back of stacks in the library as Caleb Raynor guns down 28 of his fellow students, three teachers, three staff members and one principal. This is on October 8 2003 at 9:04am. This is fiction but seems very real (none of the teachers have guns). The part that does not feel real is that this is not the only tragedy to face the small town in St Louis. Three days after the shooting, the houses of the families of the victims start burning down. Jennifer Platt @Jenniferdplatt
★★★★ The Wanderers Meg Howrey, Simon & Schuster, R220
Three Nasa astronauts are chosen for a mission to Mars which will make them the first people on the Red Planet. Helen is a veteran astronaut with a complicated relationship with her daughter, Sergei is on the verge of divorce and Yoshi is trying to reach out to his distant wife. Why are they doing it? How will their significant others cope with their absence? A nuanced tale of adventure, terror and the complex emotional challenges of journeying to the outer limits as well as within. Nikki Temkin @NikkiTemkin
GIVEAWAY: We are giving away three copies of The Woman in the
Window by AJ Finn. To enter, name the book’s main character. E-mail the answer, name and contact number to lifestyle@sundaytimes.co.za with FINN as the subject. Only one entry per person. Competition closes on Friday March 16. Ts and Cs apply.