Transworld

Hodder & Stoughton

What became of Mitch and Abby McDeere after they exposed the crimes of Memphis law firm Bendini, Lambert and Locke and fled the country? The answer is in THE EXCHANGE, the riveting sequel to THE FIRM, the blockbuster thriller that launched the career of the world’s bestselling author over twenty years ago.
Mitch McDeere has cheated death and come out the other side. Fifteen years ago, he stole $10 million from the mob and disappeared. Now, with his enemies jailed or dead, he has fought his way to the top of the biggest law firm in the world. When a new case takes Mitch to Libya, danger awaits: he’s soon in the biggest hostage negotiation in recent history with terrorists who have murdered and will murder again.

Their demand is staggering: a ransom of $100 million must be paid within 10 days. But this isn’t a random kidnapping – it’s personal. And no one, not even Mitch’s wife in New York, is safe.

With the clock ticking, can Mitch stay one step ahead of his enemies? This time, there’s nowhere to hide.

Umuzi

Justin Fox’s name may well ring a bell for readers of Getaway – he edited the magazine for many years, has travelled the length and breadth of Africa and really does understand the importance of a sense of place.  In this unique book, Justin Fox has travelled South Africa exploring the places in which his favourite books were set.  He visits Olive Shreiner’s mountainous Karoo, Zakes Mda’s Wild Coast, the forests of Daleen Matthe’s Garden Route and the big game lowveld of Sir Percy FitzPatrick, amongst others.  It’s a love letter to South Africa merging literature and landscapes and the inner worlds of some of its most celebrated authors.  A very special read which makes you think of your own attachment to the place of your birth and the land you love.

Harper Collins

2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.

1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.

1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family’s grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart’s Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.

Humming with a sly, exhilarating magic’ – Bridget Collins

“All three women will find solace in a powerful connection with nature, but all three will need to combat the life-changing power of some very bad men.” ––New York Times Book Review

“A triumphant debut…the magic harnessed by the characters feels completely real in this captivating outing.” ––Publishers Weekly

Here’s my review on instagram

Penguin Books

Clover Brooks, a death doula in New York, helps people die with dignity. She has dedicated her life to ushering people peacefully through their end-of-life process. She’s also no stranger to grief having lost both her parents at a young age as well as her grandfather who raised her.

The problem is, Clover spends so much time with the dying that she has no life of her own, until the final wishes of a feisty old woman send Clover on a trip across the country to uncover a forgotten love story––and perhaps, her own happy ending. As she finds herself struggling to navigate the uncharted roads of romance and friendship, Clover is forced to examine what she really wants, and whether she’ll have the courage to go after it.

“This weird, lovely and sweetly satisfying novel [is] engaging and accessible…Clover’s emergence from a shuttered life is moving enough to elicit tears, and Brammer’s take on death and grieving is profound enough to feel genuinely instructional.” –The New York Times Book Review

“This is a beautiful tale of a vulnerable, compassionate woman who finds that, in order to care for others, she must also let herself be cared for. Even that cliché feels moving, rather than saccharine, in Brammer’s capable hands.” –Kirkus 

Mantle

A breathtaking mystery of love, lies and a cold case come back to life, Homecoming is an immersive, twisting epic from the bestselling Kate Morton, told with her trademark intricacy and beauty.

Adelaide Hills, 1959. At the end of a scorching hot day, in the grounds of a grand country house, a local man makes a terrible discovery. Police are called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most mystifying murder investigations in the history of Australia.

London, 2018. Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for nearly two decades, a phone call summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, has suffered a fall and is seriously ill in hospital.

Seeking comfort in her past, Jess discovers a true crime book at Nora’s house chronicling a long-buried police case: the Turner Family Tragedy of 1959. And within its pages she finds a shocking personal connection to this notorious event – a crime that has never truly been solved.

An epic novel that spans generations, Homecoming asks what we would do for those we love and how we protect the lies we tell.

“Morton’s best yet.” — Publishers Weekly 

“Morton keeps the secrets coming, leading up to a powerful, emotional conclusion. This is storytelling at its finest.” — Booklist 

“Morton’s layered writing leaves surprises for even the keenest of detectives.” — Kirkus Reviews

Here’s my review on Instagram

Penguin Random House

‘Your job is to bind the books, not read them.’

When the men of Oxford University Press leave for the Western Front, Peggy, her twin sister Maude and their friends in the bookbindery must shoulder the burden at home. As Peggy moves between her narrowboat full of memories and the demands of the Press, her dreams of studying feel ever more remote. She must know her place, fold her pages and never stop to savour the precious words in front of her.

From volunteer nurses to refugees fleeing the horrors of occupation, the war brings women together from all walks of life, and with them some difficult choices for Peggy. New friends and lovers offer new opportunities, but they also make new demands – and Peggy must write her own story.

if you enjoyed The Dictionary of Lost Words, you’ll love returning to Oxford to discover the world of printing and book binding.  And please read this wonderful review in the Guardian

Here’s my review on instagram

Tafelberg

I love Marita van der Vyver – there’s a lovely comfort in reading about people and places that are familiar to you – places you have visited, friends who could be your own… Still Breathing is a novel about a group of old friends who get together for the first time in twenty-five years at a beach house on the West Coast.  Friends, children, grandchildren… people who have gone their own ways, weathered life’s storms but pick up where they left off over the course of the weekend. It’s lovely.

Marita van der Vyver’s books are a constant joy, dipping into the lives and personalities of a diverse cast, her characters and situations are always real, relatable and with a steady dose of wry humour thrown in. Her writing is a breath of fresh air. – The Star

Picador Africa

A brooding, sprawling, stormy read that sucks you in and propels you along at the pace of the flooding Buffalo River.   One of those wonderful reads that goes back and forth in time, The Ghost of Sam Webster is set on a lodge at Isandlwana, a place filled with ghosts past and present.  The story centres around a missing girl, her complicated family and a young writer visiting the lodge under the guise of writing a book about his disgraced ancestor.  It jumps back in time to the Battle of Isandlwana to a British soldier who is more suited to studying natural history than fighting for Crown and Country.  Love and hate, murder and mystery, loyalty and betrayal, cowardice and courage – they’re all here in this beautifully written, multi-layered read.

Higginson’s most haunting and ambitious novel to date – The Times

‘A phenomenal and deeply affecting story. With immaculate prose, Craig Higginson deftly excavates our histories, both personal and political.’– Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu

In The Ghost of Sam Webster, Higginson has shown his maturity as a novel writer; one can only look forward to what comes next. – KZN Literary Tourism

Picador

Two bright Ivy League college students have landed coveted internships at Goldman Sachs in New York.  They couldn’t be more different – he’s white, she’s black, he’s conservative, she’s not.  They spar, they drive each other mad, but they work well together and before they know it, they’ve fallen -shockingly – in love!  But can love survive when what divides is great that what unites?  Can love overcome fundamental differences? A very contemporary read featuring big universal themes and all the big issues of the day.  Fabulous!

The book of the moment . . . It’s about whether it is ever possible for two people who fancy each other but profoundly disagree about everything that matters to have a happy relationship . . . It’s so good ― funny, sexy, unafraid, brilliantly nuanced, completely unputdownable. – The Times

An assured debut that provides an honest look into the fraught terrain of a mixed-race, mixed-politics romance – Guardian

Does love conquer all? Does it now? Did it ever? These are questions Cecilia Rabess asks in her nimble, discerning debut . . . The ending of Everything’s Fine is one of the best I’ve read in years ― The New York Times

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