Reading Matters (week 45) November 3, 2026

I’m sure many of us remember Roelf Meyer and Cyril Ramaphosa helping to talk SA into a peaceful transition to democracy back in the 1990s. It was all the more crucial because in June 1992 the Boipatong massacre left 45 people dead, many near their homes. A furious Nelson Mandela blamed the apartheid National Party and called off the talks between the two negotiators. Yet we learn from Roelf Meyer, A Political Memoir (Tafelberg) that against all the odds, the two men continued to communicate.

For those of us who remember those historic events, you’ll find this book fascinating. For people too young to know what happened, read this!

Nearly every evening my husband and I go out into the night to look at our stars and planets. We love, The Sky Guide Southern Africa books, published by Struik/Penguin, that have been published for the last 82 years. They literally light up the skies for us and now the 2027 Guide Southern Africa by Auke Slotegraaf and Ian Glass, and the Astronomical Society (ASSA) is out just in time for the festive season. Get it for a friend and open eyes to our celestial beauty.

If you recall the astounding success of then debut author, Kathryn Stockett, back in 2009 with her novel, The Help you’ll have been anticipating her second book, The Calamity Club (Penguin Books) with gusto.

Set again, in Mississippi, this time back in 1933 in the Depression, it features an 11-year-old parentless Meg, locked up in an orphanage. A social climber, her devoted wonderful sister, a wealthy matriarch, and a woman who has been forcibly sterilised ( this is a historical fact) combine with a sisterhood of ‘underestimated women’ to make this a thumper of a story at over 600 pages. I loved it.

Reading Matters with Sue Grant-Marshall