Biography & Memoir - Jonathan Ball Publishers

Fruit of a Poisoned Tree

In 2005, Fred van der Vyver, a young actuary and the son of a wealthy Eastern Cape farming family, was charged with murdering his girlfriend, Inge Lotz, allegedly bludgeoning her to death with a hammer as she lay on a couch in her lounge. The case against Van der Vyver seemed overwhelming. His behaviour at the time of the murder appeared suspicious and the forensic evidence seemed to prove his guilt. Now updated with the tale of the remarkable events that followed the judge’s verdict, prize-winning author Antony Altbeker takes you into the heart of the epic courtroom battle.

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Ougat (Audiobook)

Unsettlingly honest and brutally blunt, Ougat is Shana Fife’s story of survival: of surviving the social conditioning of her Cape Flats community, of surviving sexual violence and depression, and of ultimately escaping a cycle of abuse.

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Crash and Burn

Crash and Burn is an insider’s tale of the South African airline industry over the past thirty years, as told by Glenn Orsmond, and particularly the story of the dramatic collapse of Comair in 2022.

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Just a Moment

One of the greats of South African rugby shares the many layers of his colourful and eventful life. From rugby legend to businessman, wine farmer, cultural custodian, musician, father and grandfather, Schalk Burger’s memoir is an intensely personal and honest journey of the triumphs and hardships that have shaped the life of a much loved South African.

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Winnie & Nelson

One of the most celebrated political leaders of our time, Nelson Mandela has been written about by many biographers and historians. But in one crucial area, his life remains largely untold: his marriage to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Jonny Steinberg tells the tale of this unique marriage – its longings, its obsessions, its deceits – making South African history a page-turning political biography.

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Love and Fury

Love and Fury is the compelling and intimate account of the life, loves and furies of Margie Orford. In this brave memoir, the renowned South African crime writer divulges some of the harrowing experiences that have shaped her life and influenced her writing.

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Positively Me

Positively Me is told with gut wrenching honesty with Nozibele Mayaba at her most vulnerable in this brave account about what it means to live and love beyond HIV.

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Blame Me On History

A classic of South African literature, this 60th-anniversary edition of William ‘Bloke’ Modisane’s autobiography serves as an example of passionate resistance to the scourge of racial discrimination in our country, and is a reminder not to forget our recent past.

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Hani: A Life Too Short (Reissue)

On the 30th anniversary of his murder by right-wing fanatics, this updated version of the best-selling Hani: A Life Too Short reevaluates his legacy and traces his life from his childhood in rural Transkei to the crisis in the ANC camps in Angola in the 1980s and the heady dawn of South Africa’s freedom.