Reading Matters (week 023) 3 June 2025

Many people are surprised to learn that 500 Polish-Jewish children were taken in by the SA government and housed in an orphanage in Oudtshoorn during WW2.  Now Andrew Robert Wilson, an esteemed member of the SA media and entertainment industry has written a novel about three of them, murdered and all missing a little fingertip in The Fourth Boy (Karavan Press).

Wilson has captured the Karoo’s tranquil beauty in and around Oudtshoorn, the quirky characteristics of some of its dwellers there, and particularly the oddness of the murders.  It’s a thriller that’s elegantly crafted and magnificently written.  I keenly await Wilson’s next book.

Birds of Botswana (Struik) by Dominic Rollinson is a glossy, pocket guide to many of the birds we see but can’t recall a name for. This easy, quick reference is a must for those of us who love birds.

If you are interested in our minds, our brains, the puzzling happenings in many people’s lives, then The Strange Case of Jane O’ by Karen Thompson (Manilla Press / Random House) will intrigue you and demand you read into the night.

Jane visits a psychiatrist who struggles to solve the mystery of a young woman who goes missing, yet recalls nothing of her odd experience, who chats to a dead boyfriend, and has scary premonitions.  Riveting.

Reading Matters with Sue Grant-Marshall