Book picks similar to
Bitches' Brew by Fred Khumalo
south-africa
fiction
african
africa
The Angina Monologues
Rosamund Kendal - 2010
Spoiled Rachel struggles to establish her independence and learns to love across the cultural divide; conservative Seema attempts to end a relationship that has become increasingly abusive; and street-savvy Nomsa finally accepts a past that she has spent a lifetime denying. Coping with rogue snakes, gang assassinations, and the public's denial of AIDS, these women demonstrate what it takes to be a doctor in South Africa.
House of Stone
Novuyo Rosa Tshuma - 2018
Their enigmatic lodger, Zamani, seems to be their last, best hope for finding him. Since Bukhosi's disappearance, Zamani has been preternaturally helpful: hanging missing posters in downtown Bulawayo, handing out fliers to passersby, and joining in family prayer vigils with the flamboyant Reverend Pastor from Agnes's Blessed Anointings church. It's almost like Zamani is part of the family....But almost isn't nearly enough for Zamani. He ingratiates himself with Agnes and feeds alcoholic Abednego's addiction, desperate to extract their life stories and steep himself in borrowed family history, as keenly aware as any colonialist or power-mad despot that the one who controls the narrative inherits the future. As Abednego wrestles with the ghosts of his past and Agnes seeks solace in a deep-rooted love, their histories converge and each must confront the past to find their place in a new Zimbabwe. Pulsing with wit, seduction, and dark humor, House of Stone is a sweeping epic that spans the fall of Rhodesia through Zimbabwe's turbulent beginnings, exploring the persistence of the oppressed in a young nation seeking an identity, but built on forgetting.
Whitethorn
Bryce Courtenay - 2005
The time is 1939. White South Africa is a deeply divided nation with many of the Afrikaner people fanatically opposed to the English.The world is also on the brink of war and South Africa elects to fight for the Allied cause against Germany. Six-year-old Tom Fitzsaxby finds himself in The Boys Farm, an orphanage in a remote town in the high mountains, where the Afrikaners side fiercely with Hitler's Germany. Tom's English name proves sufficient for him to be ostracised, marking him as an outsider. And so begin some of life's tougher lessons for the small, lonely boy. Like the Whitethorn, one of Africa's most enduring plants, Tom learns how to survive in the harsh climate of racial hatred. Then a terrible event sends him on a journey to ensure that justice is done. On the way, his most unexpected discovery is love.This is a return to Africa for me, a revisiting of a past that wasn't always easy, but which nevertheless gave my childhood a richness and understanding that served me well in later life. After ten books set in my beloved Australia, Whitethorn is back to that fierce and dark landscape where kindness and cruelty, love and hate share the same backyard. I do hope you enjoy it.Bryce Courtenay
Ogadinma Or, Everything Will Be All Right
Ukamaka Olisakwe - 2020
After a rape and unwanted pregnancy leave her exiled from her family in Kano, thwarting her plans to go to university, she is sent to her aunt's in Lagos and pressured into a marriage with an older man. When their whirlwind romance descends into abuse and indignity, Ogadinma is forced to channel her independence and resourcefulness to escape a fate that appears all but inevitable. Ogadinma, the UK debut by Ukamaka Olisakwe, introduces a heroine for whom it is impossible not to root, and announces the author as a gifted chronicler of the patriarchal experience.‘An intimate and dazzling exploration of the life and times of a young Nigerian woman whose move to the capital city of Lagos leads to a series of encounters, which are by turns disorienting, revelatory and tragic.’ Christopher Merrill, author of Self-Portrait with Dogwood‘Written in vivid, engaging prose, this is the story of one woman’s journey to independence.’ Chinelo Okparanta, author of Under the Udala Trees and Happiness, Like Water: Stories
Eightysixed: Life Lessons Learned
Emily Belden - 2014
But if “figuring it all out” and “wanting it all” were Olympic sports, Emily would have been a gold medalist in both categories. Never one to admit defeat in the face of the enemy, Emily gets back in the dating ring again and again. But, the more she tries to make her therapist proud, the deeper down the rabbit hole she goes. While recovering the pieces of her broken heart, straight-A Emily’s dating world morphs into a mad soirée of drug addicts, embezzlers, perverts, and pimps. Just as she begins to believe that a bottle of wine might be her only shot at happiness, a chance encounter with a man she should never should have met resets Emily’s buttons. What she experience next satiates her heart, her soul, and her stomach, as she frees herself from the perils of her mid-twenties and becomes exactly who she is supposed to be.
Song of the Wind
Madge Swindells - 1985
When her mother is shot at the close of World War II, Marika Magos is orphaned into a new life in the diamond canyons of South Africa. As a worn-torn Europe is on the mend, Marika climbs to the glittering heights of the London fashion industry. From Paris to New York, her name is known and her admirers many. Not even Tony Palma, the international tycoon who thought he possessed her entirely knows of the secret passion she harbours for Swiss immigrant Gunter Grieff. Yet the sweet promise of their affair turns to ashes when Marika learns that his name and papers are false, changed in the final days of the war to protect his German identity. Song of the Wind tells a powerful tale of romance, adventure and intrigue. Praise for Song of the Wind ‘Irresistible . . . keeps your emotions trembling over hundreds of pages’ - MAIL ON SUNDAY Praise for Madge Swindells Praise for Madge Swindells 'Superlative' - Publishers Weekly 'I was gripped from start to finish’ - Kate Alexander, author ‘Terrific. A book that’s big in every sense. . . rich in detail and written with passion it lives on in the memory. I loved it’ - Sarah Harrison, author Madge Swindells was born and educated in England. As a teenager, she emigrated to South Africa where she studied archaeology at Cape Town University. Later, in England, she was a Fleet Street journalist and the manager of her own publishing company. Her earlier novels, Summer Harvest, Shadows on the Snow, The Corsican Woman, Edelweiss, The Sentinel and Harvesting the Past were international bestsellers and have been translated into eight languages. She lives in South Africa.
Angel Falls
Kristin Hannah - 2000
Doctors tell him not to expect a recovery, but he believes that love can accomplish what medical science cannot. Daily he sits at her bedside, telling her stories of the precious life they have built together, hoping against hope that she will wake up. But then he discovers evidence of his wife’s secret past: a hidden first marriage to movie star Julian True.Desperate to bring Mikaela back at any cost, Liam knows he must turn to Julian for help. But will that choice cost Liam his wife, his family, and everything he holds dear? One of Kristin Hannah’s most moving novels, Angel Falls is a poignant and unforgettable portrait of marriage and commitment, of an ordinary man who dares to risk everything in the name of love.
Behold the Dreamers
Imbolo Mbue - 2016
In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty—and Jende is eager to please. Clark’s wife, Cindy, even offers Neni temporary work at the Edwardses’ summer home in the Hamptons. With these opportunities, Jende and Neni can at last gain a foothold in America and imagine a brighter future. However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers’ façades. When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende’s job—even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice.
The O'Malley Collection
Dee Henderson - 2016
They have chosen their own surname, O’Malley, and have stood by each other through moments of joy and heartache. Their stories are told in CBA best-selling, inspirational romantic suspense novels that rock your heart and restore strength and hope to your spirit.Danger in the Shadows (prequel):Sara is terrified. She’s doing the one thing she cannot afford to do: fall in love with former pro-football player Adam Black, a man everyone knows. Sara’s been hidden away in the witness protection program, her safety dependent on staying invisible—and loving Adam could get her killed!#1 The NegotiatorFBI agent Dave Richman from Danger in the Shadows is back. He’s about to meet Kate O’Malley, and his life will never be the same. She’s a hostage negotiator. He protects people. He’s about to find out that falling in love with a hostage negotiator is one thing, but keeping her safe is another!#2 The GuardianA federal judge has been murdered. There is only one witness, and an assassin wants her dead. U.S. Marshall Marcus O’Malley thought he knew the risks of the assignment . . . but he was wrong.#3 The Truth SeekerWomen are turning up dead, and Lisa O’Malley has a habit of walking into crime scenes, curious. She’s a forensic pathologist, and mysteries are her domain. U.S. marshall Quinn Diamond has found loving her is easier than keeping her safe. Lisa’s found the killer, and now she’s missing too.#4 The ProtectorJack O’Malley is a fireman who is fearless when it comes to facing an inferno. But when an arsonist begins targeting his district, his shift, his friends, Jack faces the ultimate challenge: protecting the lady who saw the arsonist before she pays an even higher price.#5 The HealerRachel O’Malley works disasters for a living. Her specialty? Helping children through trauma. When a school shooting rips through her community, she finds herself dealing with more than just grief among the children she is trying to help. One of them saw the shooting, and the gun is still missing.#6 The RescuerStephen O’Malley is a paramedic who has been rescuing people all his life. His friend Meghan is in trouble: Stolen jewels are turning up in interesting places, and she’s in the middle of it. Stephen is about to run into a night he will never forget—a kidnapping, a tornado, and a race to rescue the woman he loves.
Who Do You Love
Jennifer Weiner - 2015
Born with a congenital heart defect, Rachel is a veteran of hospitals, and she's intrigued by the boy who shows up all alone with a broken arm. He tells her his name. She tells him a story. After Andy's taken back to the emergency room and Rachel's sent back to her bed, they think they'll never see each other again.Rachel, the beloved, popular, and protected daughter of two doting parents, grows up wanting for nothing in a fancy Florida suburb. Andy grows up poor in Philadelphia with a single mom and a rare talent that will let him become one of the best runners of his generation.Over the course of three decades, through high school and college, marriages and divorces, from the pinnacles of victory and the heartbreak of defeat, Andy and Rachel will find each other again and again, until they are finally given a chance to decide whether love can surmount difference and distance and if they've been running toward each other all along.With honesty, wit, and clear-eyed observations about men and women, love and fate, and the truth about happy endings, Jennifer Weiner delivers two of her most memorable characters, and a love story you'll never forget.
Looking for Fireworks
Holly Cavendish - 2012
She’s been looking for fireworks in her love life ever since she broke up with her predictable ex-boyfriend Giles, but she has no thoughts of kindling the spark she’s looking for here. If she can’t find love in a big city like London – with all its internet dating, singles nights, and socials – how can she ever hope to meet the man of her dreams in the tiny village of St Pontian? But there are two prospects when she gets there: Martin who can always be depended on for a kind word of advice. And Toby, who is distant, but who sets her heart ablaze. When it comes to love, should Laney trust the logic of her head or the racing of her heart?
Karma
Sabrina A. Eubanks - 2006
It is love at first sight as the two fall head over heels for each other, despite the influence of Justine's jealous friend, Simone. While Simone tempts Lucas with her raw sexuality, he struggles to keep his old ways in the past. Lucas and his partner, Noah, accept a dangerous undercover assignment that will topple the empire of the notorious drug lord, Nine. Can Lucas and Noah survive this dangerous bust? Will Lucas revert to his player ways with Simone's constant temptation? It's a race between love and lust, and what goes around definitely comes around as KARMA takes its toll.
Overnight To Innsbruck
Denyse Woods - 2002
As they each tell their separate stories of fear, confusion and loss, they try to unravel the truth of what happened - and confront the bitter possibility that one of them may be lying.As their train hurtles through a long sleepless night, a third passenger eavesdrops on their conversation, mesmerized by a complex dialogue that probes into the very nature of truth and personal identity. A story of love and doubt, Overnight to Innsbruck is charged throughout with tantalizing puzzles and all the tension of a first-class psychological thriller - and marks the debut of a remarkably fresh and original voice in Irish literature. DENYSE WOODS was born in Boston, USA, in 1958. She has travelled extensively, living in the USA, Belgium, Australia, Italy, Iraq and England, before returning to settle in Ireland in 1987. She obtained a BA in Arabic and English in 1981, and subsequently worked as a translator for PARC Management Services in Iraq, where she shared a terrace with Saddam Hussein. In 1988 she won the Irish Times Short Story Competition. She now lives in County Cork with her husband and two daughters.
Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography
Mark Mathabane - 1986
Like every other child born in the hopelessness of apartheid, he learned to measure his life in days, not years. Yet Mark Mathabane, armed only with the courage of his family and a hard-won education, raised himself up from the squalor and humiliation to win a scholarship to an American university. This extraordinary memoir of life under apartheid is a triumph of the human spirit over hatred and unspeakable degradation. For Mark Mathabane did what no physically and psychologically battered "Kaffir" from the rat-infested alleys of Alexandra was supposed to do -- he escaped to tell about it.