Dec 2019 - Middelburg

Book club
A trio of brilliant books for the holidays
Oh my. Joy of joys! A new book
from Jojo Moyes, just in time for the
holidays. Inspired by a remarkable
true story, the book is described
as ‘the unforgettable journey of
five extraordinary women living in
extraordinary and perilous times’.
The Giver of Stars is the story of
Alice Wright, a woman who leaves
England for America, only to discover
that swapping the twitching curtains
of suburbia for being the wife of an
American businessman and living in
the wild mountains of Kentucky isn’t,
actually, the answer to her prayers.
Then she meets Margery O’Hara, a
woman who isn’t afraid of anything
or anyone. And a woman
on a mission! The pair, along with
three others, join up and, ignoring
obvious dangers and loads of social
disapproval, travel hundreds of miles
a week to deliver books to isolated
families. When a body is found in the
mountains, and one of the group
becomes a suspect, their newly
formed friendship is put to the test.
The Giver of Stars is unputdownable.
Penguin, R270
Ever since reading the marvellous Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight, we’ve
pounced on any new Alexandra Fuller with delight (unlike her mother, who
thinks they’re ‘dreadful’). Just released is Travel Light, Move Fast, a tribute to
Alexandra’s father, who died unexpectedly – and not with the drama the family
expected – in Budapest, ‘the poor man’s Paris’. Read in equal parts of envy and
horror – her parents launched from one calamity to the next, fuelled with gin
and in a haze of cigarette smoke, along with the children, a handful of dogs and
a collection of orange Le Creuset pots – the memoir jumps from present to past.
Alexandra tells of the lessons her father taught her. Lessons about life, love, loss
and tragedy. Lessons that led her to cope with the loss of her father, of the fallout
with her sister, and of the unbearable final bereavement she reveals in the final
chapter, when you may find yourself, as we did, holding the book further away
than normal, so as to distance yourself from the grief she pours into the pages.
Brilliantly written, heartbreaking, and often laugh-out-loud funny. Not much more
you need from a great read, really. Profile Books, R300 • If there was ever anyone
as glam as the marvellous Jackie Kennedy Onassis, it was her sister, Lee. One the
most iconic women of her time – and the favourite of their rakish father, John
‘Black Jack’ Vernou Bouvier – she lived in the shadow of her older sister, their
mother’s favourite. Both had a keen eye for beauty – in fashion, design, painting,
music, dance, sculpture, poetry – and both were talented artists. Both loved
prerevolutionary Russian culture. Both adored the blinding sunlight, calm seas and
ancient olive groves of Greece. But the two, although extremely close, were hugely
competitive and their relationship included much rivalry and jealousy. When
Jackie died and her will read, Lee discovered that cash bequests were left to family,
friends and staff, but nothing to her. ‘I have made no provision in this my Will for
my sister, Lee B. Radziwill, for whom I have great affection, because I have already
done so during my lifetime,’ it read. The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters by Sam Kashner
and Nancy Schoenberger, who had many candid interviews with Lee, explores the
tragic and glamorous lives of these two fascinating women. HarperCollins, R310.
December 2019 Get It Middelburg\eMalahleni 05