Reading a great book set in the place you’re travelling to can help you to get a feel for the place before you arrive, and absorb its atmosphere further while you’re there. Alongside our 72 Hours In Cape Town travel guide, here are seven reads that capture the essence of Cape Town and its surroundings.
Cape Fever by Nadia Davids
Nadia Davids, my brilliant former tutor at the University of Cape Town, sets her novel in a colonial city that bears many similarities with the Mother City, focusing on the relationship between a Muslim maid and her white employer.
The Promise by Damon Galgut
With a cinematic narrative that drifts between different bodies and perspectives, The Promise considers the country’s post-Apartheid status as the ‘rainbow nation’. It follows the decline of a white family over many decades, based on an unfulfilled promise to a Black servant.
Disgrace by JM Coetzee
A Booker Prize-winning, unsettling and at times starkly violent novel about a disgraced university professor amid racial tension and the legacy of Apartheid.
Twist by Colum McCann
Beginning in Cape Town, Twist follows an Irish journalist and playwright who is assigned a story covering the underwater cables that hold the world's information. As he uncovers the dark underbelly of the operation, he is forced to confront his own connections and relationships. Free divers will approve of this one.
Born A Crime by Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah’s memoir of being born to a Black Xhosa mother and white Swiss father and growing up under Apartheid in Soweto is a searing, honest and moving read, weaving his wry comedic style with lessons from history that need to be heard. Listen to Dua’s interview with Trevor about the book here.
Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings
In a not-too-far away future (Cape Town in 2028), the earth is scorched and drought is severe, as a woman confronts her family’s dark past post-Apartheid when bodily remains are exhumed from her land.
Moederland by Cato Pedder
A captivating non-fiction exploration of Afrikaans identity and South African culture, belonging and language.
