books – Writers Support

A global cancer-virus has decimated the male population. Miles is a twelve-year-old boy who has somehow survived the virus, but he has become a scarce commodity. The Department of Men wants to lock him away forever. Boy traffickers want to kidnap him. Miles is on the run with his mother, Cole, across the American landscape– one that is different from we know.

Billie, Cole’s sister, is determined to deliver Miles alive to the boy traffickers and collect her reward money. Even a serious head wound won’t deter Billie from catching her nephew before he can escape to South Africa.

Afterland will take the reader through story twists and turns as Cole tries to protect her son from a religious cult, potential kidnappers and a lonely woman who invites them to dinner and wants them to stay forever.

Lauren Beukes latest book is too close to reality for comfort. Although five years in the making, it foreshadows the current viral pandemic that is sweeping across the world. Words such as ‘quarantine’, ‘security points’, ‘health checks’ are situations that the reader can uncomfortably relate to.

The story is set in 2023 and questions are evident in the story about a world that has changed significantly. What would happen if the world were run by women? Apparently, it makes no difference. Female gangsters are portrayed as no different to their male counterparts. A mother will steal and kill to keep her son alive.

Most of the story is set in America but Beukes remains true to her roots, glimpses of South Africa merge as mother and son try to find a way home.

Be warned, despite the juxtaposition with the global pandemic, Afterland will grab you and will not let you go until you reach the end.

Reviewer: Ulrike Hill

Writer@ulrikehill.co.za

Score: 5/5 apples

Review Date: 20 July 2020

Publisher: Umuzi

ISBN: 9-781415-210444

Buy it here

South Africa has wonderful stories to tell the world and ‘A Dream Realised: the Challenges and Triumphs of Building a Mandela Legacy‘ is a story that inspires as the world grapples with a global pandemic and continued recession.

Stories show that despite the lack of funds, technology, or expertise; South Africa is alive with possibilities. A Dream Realised is a book that provides the inside view of overcoming adversity.

It started as a simple challenge from Mandela to the Fund’s team: How is it possible that there is only one children’s hospital in South Africa? The next challenge was telling the story to showcase what can be achieved. Storytellers Ulrike Hill and Zanele Chakela were commissioned to bring the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital to life.

It is an inspiring story

There is a misconception that when a story is written about children and about illness that it should be depressing.

Admittedly, the first chapter is a tear-jerker. It throws the reader into a situation that a parent dreads: a five-year-old child needs paediatric care urgently. The stark reminder that the five-year-old boy who dies in chapter one could be anyone’s child. It is through his death and the parents’ experience of living through this tragedy in an Intensive Care Unit that is geared towards adult treatment, the need for a children’s hospital became glaringly obvious. This event launches a series of actions by concerned South African leaders, including Nelson Mandela into action. These actions have been moulded into stories demonstrating that, through courage and hard work, great things can be achieved.

Despite the first chapter, the book is cheerful and positive. It highlights the brilliance of how a community with a common goal can achieve wonders. From small donations to big donations, little dreams to big dreams, a few words to entire legacies; it is a deeply inspiring book. Much like the hospital itself, the book has an important yet happy story to tell.

The book’s key message

Through collaboration and determination as well as the Madiba inspiration, South Africa can show the world what it can achieve especially for its children. Co-author, Zanele Chakela provided an important layer to the Hospital’s story. She felt that “as a nation South Africa should be looking after our children and [that] we can do all things when we work together”. Metaphorically, the creation of the book showed that the Hospital’s Trusts working culture of commitment and collaboration was, and can be, the key to success in any organisation.

The story continues to grow

A Dream Realised will continue the Mandela’s Legacy. The story that exists within the pages of a remarkable achievement will provide business lessons for future leaders, hope for parents with extremely sick children and a warm-fuzzy feeling for South Africans who are invested in this country’s future. Like the children’s hospital that is named after a South African icon, the stories in A Dream Realised will continue to bear testimony for many generations.

All proceeds from the sale of A Dream Realised go to Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Trust.

Order online from NMCH website or e-book at Amazon.

Review: “Afterland” by Lauren Beukes

Capturing Mandela’s Dream into a Story