September 11 2017

woman of stateWoman of State (HarperCollins/Jonathan Ball)

SIMON BERTHON

It’s Belfast, 1991. Not the height of the Troubles, perhaps, but a long way to go before peace in Northern Ireland. Maire Anne McCartney has just finished her A-levels when she is persuaded by her boyfriend to be the bait in a honeytrap. She’s reluctant, but what has she ever done for the struggle, he asks her. There will be no violence. Except there is. Maire, just 18, has to flee to Dublin. More than 25 years later human rights lawyer Anne-Marie Gallagher is appointed Minister of State for Security and Immigration. But then there is a tipoff. A body is found in a field, and Detective Chief Inspector Jon Carne begins investigating. Now it looks as though the new minister’s secret life might be uncovered. Simon Berthon is an award-winning filmmaker, and this is his first novel.

 

skollie fredericksSEPT 11

Skollie – one man’s struggle to survive by telling stories (Zebra Press)

JOHN W FREDERICKS

Last year the film Noem my Skollie was South Africa’s official entry for the 89th Oscars. It told the story of John Fredericks, born and raised in Kewtown, who went to Pollsmoor at just 17. And there he quickly learned that he was no longer able to protect himself using violence. And so he drew on another skill: storytelling. He became the “prison cinema” making up yarns of cops and robbers, using his fellow inmates’ names in his tales. He tells of the humiliations of being in prison, of sitting bare-arsed on a concrete floor to “vries sy gat” before getting cuts, of fellow inmates selling food for tobacco, of blood and violence. Later he was released, only to be charged with a murder he did not commit. Many years on he wrote the screenplay for the film. Now in his 70s and living in Athlone, he has written his own story, the story of his life. The book is being launched at Artscape on Sunday September 17.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *