Lowveld - Dec 2019

Book club
A trio of brilliant books for the holidays
Joy of joys! A new 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, who leaves England for America,
only to discover that swapping 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, 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 new 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
dramatically in Budapest. 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,
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 final bereavement she reveals in the last chapter, when you may find yourself
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 laughout-loud
funny. Not much more you need from a great read, really.
Profile Books, R300.
Also well worth reading...
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, 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. But they, although extremely
close, were hugely competitive and their relationship had rivalry and jealousy.
When Jackie died and her will was 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 interviews with Lee, explores the
tragedy and glamour of these two fascinating women. HarperCollins, R310.
RI421649NC
December 2019 Get It Lowveld 00