12 | BOOKS
20 November 2019
What’s new in review
Compiled by Hedda Mittner
Penguin Random House
Penguin Random House
Jonathan Cape
Penguin Random House
From Alexandra Fuller, the bestselling author of Don’t let’s go to the dogs tonight and Cocktail hour under the tree of forgetfulness comes another utterly original story, this time of her father, Tim Fuller, a man who swallowed life whole. After his sudden death in a hospital in Budapest, Alexandra looks back on the life of this self-exiled black sheep who moved to Africa to fight in the Rhodesian Bush War before settling as a banana farmer in Zambia. A man who preferred chaos to predictability, to revel in promise rather than wallow in regret, and who was more afraid of becoming bored than of getting lost. It is another unforgettable memoir of joy, resilience, and vitality. – goodreads.com
A timeless love story set in a secret world from the bestselling author of The Night Circus. Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book that contains a story from his own childhood. Bewildered and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues – a bee, a key, and a sword – that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth. In this magical underground world – a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea – Zachary discovers his purpose – in both the mysterious book and in his own life. – amazon.com
As China battled through 100 years of wars, revolutions and seismic transformations, the three Soong sisters from Shanghai were at the centre of power, and each of them left an indelible mark on history. Red Sister, Ching-ling, married the 'Father of China', Sun Yat-sen, and rose to be Mao's vice-chair. Little Sister, May-ling, became Madame Chiang Kai-shek, first lady of pre-Communist Nationalist China and a major political figure in her own right. Big Sister, Ei-ling, became Chiang's unofficial main adviser – and made herself one of China's richest women. In a group biography that is by turns intimate and epic, Jung Chang, the bestselling author of Wild Swans, reveals the lives of three extraordinary women who helped shape 20th century China. – goodreads.com
More than 50 years after the astonishing success of The spy who came in from the cold, the master of spy novels publishes a new unputdownable thriller at the age of 88. Set in London in 2018, Nat, a veteran of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (Agent Running in the Field) follows Ed, a 26-year-old solitary figure who hates Brexit, hates Trump and hates his job at some soulless media agency. In a desperate attempt to resist the political turbulence swirling around him, Ed makes connections that will take him – and Nat – down the dangerous path of political anger that will ensnare them all. Agent running in the field is a chilling portrait of our time, now heartbreaking, now darkly humorous, told with unflagging tension by the greatest chronicler of our age. – penguinrandomhouse.com
NOW AVAILABLE FROM
Cecile & Boyd This book is a loving tribute to the late Cécile Tilley, co-founder of Cecile & Boyd Interior Design, which this year celebrates 30 years in business. Lavishly illustrated with beautiful photographs, the foreword is written by Boyd Ferguson, who met the 60-something style icon in the late 1980s when he was “a befringed, over-tanned 20-something design student”. Together they embarked upon an extraordinary creative journey that culminated in Cecile & Boyd. “Cécile encouraged me to express my originality and to execute my own paradigm-shifting, rule-breaking ideas because she, too, was the same,” writes Boyd, describing Cécile as “original, courageous, loving, non-judgmental, affirming, motherly, wise and always funny”. – cecileandboyds.com
The village bookshop with a city selection
Tafelberg Prokureur Ian Brand stuur 'n ondeurdagte twiet die kuberruim in en sy lewe word oornag pure hel. Thuli Khumalo, studenteaktivis op 'n kampus wat stink na petrol en traangas, moet kies tussen vaderverraad of haar beginsels versaak. Snaar Windvogel, vroeër van Matjiesfontein, is nou in transisie onder die lem van 'n enigmatiese plastiese chirurg. En al hoe gereelder slaan 'n kruisboogmoordenaar in die Moederstad toe… Hierdie en vele ander fassinerende karakters bevolk 'n landskap waarin die enigste sekerheid ónsekerheid is, waar privaatheid en identiteit abstrakte begrippe geword het, fopnuus ononderskeibaar van die werklikheid, en “die waarheid” klaarblyklik 'n onhaalbare ideaal. – graffitiboeke.co.za
Station Square Hermanus 028 313 0834
New book on history of Hermanus Dr Robin Lee of the Hermanus History Society will be launching his new book, For Keeps: Articles on Hermanus history – worth keeping next month. Several of the 30 articles in this book, researched and written by Robin between 2013 and 2019, have been published in The Village NEWS in one form or another over the past three years. Readers may recognise some of these characters who influenced the development of Hermanus, such as PJ Luyt, Meester Paterson, TD Ravenscroft, Sir William Hoy, and Sandy and Gertrude Grant. Featuring high and low points in Hermanus’s history over a period of 150 years,
readers can also look forward to learning about the rise and fall of the hotel holiday culture and the development of tourism; the frequent and destructive fires that ravaged our town; the sad story of an under-utilised New Harbour and the depletion of Walker Bay’s marine resources. All the articles have been brought up to date and reflect the latest information available to the author, some of which came to light after the original article was written. They paint a vivid picture of the gradual metamorphosis of a 19th century fishing village, Hermanuspietersfontein, into a modern, prosperous town, Hermanus, despite having no
specific industry or mineral resources to sustain its growth. In the final section of the book, the author sets out what he regards as the main, long-lasting features of the history of the town, and identifies several developments that will be important to Hermanus in the decades to come, including tourism, nature conservation, wildfires, agriculture, water resources and population growth. Copies of Robin's book will be available for purchase at the launch at the Catholic Church Hall on Thursday 12 December at 17:30. They can also be pre-ordered from The Book Cottage on 028 313 0834 or bookcott@hermanus.co.za.
Matching LAMY pens and notebooks now in stock!
028 313 0834 Station Square, Hermanus
