Shaped and shafted by the city
Luke AlfredMark Gevisser’s memoir of growing up in Jo’burg is sweeping in its range and ambition, but falls short on ordinary details and a sense of humour.
Zakes Mda: The year of the mirror
Jane RosenthalJane Rosenthal sculpts dreams and rides quaggas in the exotic kingdom of the sacred gold-plated rhino in Zakes Mda's "The Sculptors of Mapungubwe".
Commies in and under the bed
Shaun de WaalThree books give a keen insight into the role played by communists in shaping South Africa’s history.
Exile's bullish reconnection with his ancestral land
Jane RosenthalMolefe Pheto, a former political prisoner, had been hoping for armed engagement after Nelson Mandela's release. "The Bull from Moruleng" is his story.
Author's notes: Penny Busetto
M&G ReporterPenny Busetto's struggle to reconcile with South Africa's past is embodied in Anna P, whose unconscious trauma dominates her actions.
Intrepid kids make reading fun
Pat SchwartzThe heroes of several new books cross borders and take their young readers on exciting adventures.
Pulitzer prize for fiction goes to 'The Goldfinch'
Alison FloodDonna Tartt's huge book, 11 years in the writing, wins the honour for "beautifully written ... novel with exquisitely drawn characters".
Sue Townsend, creator of Adrian Mole, dies aged 68
Conal Urquhart, Kate KellawaySue Townsend, who achieved worldwide success with publication of her best-known work, "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, aged 13 ¾", has died.
Cinderella becomes the wicked stepmother
Alex ClarkHelen Oyeyemi has a determination to explore what happens when we have to operate without a stable sense of ourselves or those around us.
African writing blurs into 'world' literature
Dan Ojwang, Michael TitlestadInitiatives such as the Kwani Trust and Femrite are helping to keep a beleaguered readership alive.
'Gone With the Wind' prequel to tell Mammy's story
Alison FloodAuthor Donald McCaig's upcoming novel - billed as a prequel to "Gone With the Wind" - is set to tell the untold story of devoted house slave Mammy.
Download the M&G's 'Nkandla: The Great Unravelling' e-book
Phillip de Wet's e-book "Nkandla: The Great Unravelling" tracks key events and major themes surrounding President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead.
Well boiled: Philip Marlowe's long hello again
Mark LawsonThe 23rd novel by the Irish writer John Banville feels like the literary equivalent of Winston Churchill's description of Russia.
This broken land has many faces: A review of four books
Jane RosenthalJane Rosenthal assesses four novels that cast the country in very different lights.
Greatness rooted in feeling
Muxe NkondoMuxe Nkondo celebrates the life of a writer who tried to make sense of life from people’s experiences.
African writing: Fact, fiction, or faction?
Siyanda MohutsiwaAuthors are activists of the pen – visionaries whose purpose it is to show us the real world, and the world that we should want to have.
Slovo, First biography - Bedfellows of a different feather
Gavin EvansAlan Wieder's biography on Joe Slovo and Ruth First focuses on the couple's relationship, their different personalities and opposing views.
End of the M-Net affair
Jane RosenthalThe only book prize that celebrates works of ?fiction written in all of our official languages has been suspended.
Stephen King plans pair of aces for 2014
Guardian Books staffRenowned author Stephen King has annouced the release of his second detective novel, Revival.
Read this week's stories online
In Norway, The Son also rises
Jo Nesbø might not reflect Scandinavian realities but his themes are all in the realm of possibility.
