Five of the best of new local fiction

From poignant coming-of-age tales to gripping historical narratives and contemporary stories, there is a new wave of SA fiction with a rich tapestry of diverse voices and perspectives. Writers are offering a fresh, vibrant exploration of the country’s complex history, culture, and societal issues. We have picked five favourites.

Lost Property, Megan Choritz

Top of my list is playwright and director Megan Choritz’s Lost Property. Her first novel, it is a finely crafted story that blurs the boundaries between memoir and fiction.

Exploring themes of identity, family and relationships, the novel is about Laine, a woman who suddenly finds her marriage over after she makes an horrific discovery about her husband, Mark. In therapy, she goes back to her childhood in the 70s in Yeoville and then Observatory, where she grows up with a dysfunctional mother and a father who loves her but is often unable to protect her.

Raised by her beloved nanny Dora, she recalls the madness of apartheid and how abnormal it was to be cared for by a woman who was unable to raise her own children.

In coming to terms with her past, she finds an unlikely kind of hope in the form of a neglected yet spirited little girl. Birds both real and imagined are present throughout, transcending the boundaries between physical and spiritual worlds. Regardless of time and place, this is a novel about reclaiming what has been lost.

Choritz’s writing is nostalgic, tender and wonderfully humorous, making Lost Property a truly SA story with universal appeal.

Mirage, David Ralph Viviers

Writer and actor David Ralph Viviers’ metaphysical novel Mirage moves between the turn of the previous century and the present. In the railway village of Sterfontein, a remarkable discovery has been made — a 100-year-old trunk containing the lost journal of Victorian author Elizabeth Tenant, as well as the remains of a child.

University student Michael becomes captivated by the journal’s enigmatic descriptions of a scarlet curtain billowing above the desert, concealing an entrance to another world.

When he uncovers a connection between a line in the journal and his own life, as well as that of his cosmologist mother, he travels to the Karoo hotel where Elizabeth wrote her novel. There he meets self-proclaimed medium Renata, and Oom Sarel, the local museum curator. He encounters omens, ancient prophecies, and an impending apocalypse. Michael struggles to distinguish between what is real and what is illusionary, but he senses he has been to Sterfontein before.

As the past and present intertwine, he “stitches the silver threads between the stars”, uncovering the truth contained in the journal. This is a fast-paced, fascinating story of loss and healing set against the meticulously described Karoo landscape.

Each Mortal Thing by Michiel Heyns

Acclaimed writer Michiel Heyns’ latest novel is a moving tribute to male friendships. The story begins with Terence, a white man residing in London, and Natasha, a coloured woman from the Karoo, meeting in the city.

Natasha’s debut novel, a reimagining of Olive Schreiner’s The Story of an African Farm from the perspective of a black woman, is the potential winner of a prestigious British fiction prize. However, before the award ceremony, Natasha is unjustly accused of appropriation and plagiarism by a literary critic.

Each Mortal Thing skilfully delves into the different responses readers have towards art. In the aftermath of the accusation, tragedy occurs, leaving Terence devastated.

He seeks solace in the company of Andy, a homeless man, and his dog Robbie. Their friendship, while offering comfort, also complicates Terence’s relationships, including his bond with his close friend Simon. Terence turns to the works of Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins in search of stability.

Through elegant prose and a sensitive portrayal of his characters, Heyns draws us into the complex world of art and its critics, asking existential questions that remain unanswered.

Flipped, Tracey Hawthorne

Tracey Hawthorne, author of an award-winning biography of the artist John Meyer, has written a dark, skilful novel that explores what happens to people when their loved ones disappear.

In the wet winter of 2010, two teenage girls set off to a party on a farm in the Western Cape. They cross a river and are never seen again. Six years later, in a boiling summer during the worst drought in living memory, a young woman vanishes while on her way home from work.

Hawthorne captures the trauma, relentless anxiety, and endless questioning that occur when someone vanishes. From the world of organised crime to underresourced police and the quirks of small-town living, she transports readers into what feels like a terrifying possibility for anyone of us.

Sons of Mud, Johan Vlok Louw

Much has been written about the SA border war and the disposable young men whose minds and lives were lost. In Sons of Mud, a short, sharp novel set in a scorching summer, a group of 18-year-old recruits are subjected to the merciless training of a drill sergeant at an army base near Voortrekkerhoogte, Pretoria.

Andrew Howard-Smythe, a surfer from Durban, observes Riejkardt Jurgens, an imposing Afrikaans youth, part heavyweight wrestler, part orang-utan. After an arduous training session on a shooting range, Jurgens snaps, causing grave injuries to three officers before being subdued.

Instead of facing prosecution, Jurgen’s propensity for violence catches the attention of a clandestine military organisation, leading to his recruitment. Through his clipped, poetic prose, Johan Vlok Louw has written an original, powerful manifesto against war and the dehumanising effects of conflict.