Colleen Van Niekerk’s — A conspiracy of mothers *****

Yolanda is haunted by the violent past she left behind in apartheid South Africa, but when she hears her mother calling her back, she knows she must return to Cape Town and face the daughter she abandoned twenty years ago. At her mother’s house, she learns of her mother’s disappearance and soon finds out that her daughter, Ingrid has discovered the secrets her family kept hidden from her since birth. Ingrid is furious and leaves Cape Town to meet a father, Stefan, she was told was dead. But she’s unaware of the violence stirred up by the coming elections, and the white hatred against the black majority who will take over the government. When Yolanda uncovers the danger Ingrid faces, she knows she must save her daughter before she reaches Stefan’s house. Will she arrive there in time?

One of the best editing tips I learned

This is a tip I learned from one of our critique facilitators, Julie Ferguson, who led our local writing group for decades. Unfortunately (for us) she has since moved cities, but I haven’t forgotten her many gems of advice while editing.

Read aloud. Two things happen when I read my work aloud. Firstly, I hear what I’ve written more clearly than merely reading in my head. Secondly, when I stumbled on a phrase, it usually means there’s something not quite right with what I’ve written.

Hyeonseo Lee’s — The girl with seven names*****

Hyeonnseo’s page turning memoir begins when she was a child growing up in a loving family in Hyesan, North Korea near the border with China. Her life was simple until she was school-age and her political indoctrination began, where speaking even a word against Kim il-sung and his son, Kim John-il had diabolical consequences. As she grew older, more political involvement was expected of her until the great famine occurred partly from the Soviet Union’s collapse. Teaches praised the Great Leaders for eating less during this time, but Hyeonnseo noticed no change in their robust bodies.

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Ariel Lawhon’s—Code name Helene

Nancy is a freelance Australian journalist based in Paris in the late 1930s. In between assignments, she wiles away her time with her French friend, Stephanie who soon introduces her to handsome, playboy, Henri. But Nancy’s life is set on a different course when she witnesses the whipping and humiliation of a Berlin Jew. She cannot forget the German torturer’s face nor the mesmerized crowd when Hitler gave a speech.

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