SJ Naudé’s second collection of short stories disturbs, surprises and enthrals

09 March 2021 - 15:52 By penguin random house sa
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'Mad Honey', SJ Naudé’s second collection of short stories.
'Mad Honey', SJ Naudé’s second collection of short stories.
Image: Supplied

From SA to Iceland, rural Belgium and the Alps, the stories in Mad Honey radiate out to encompass the globe. In Cape Town, a couple raise their son in leafy suburbia, while their cleaner’s child must face the inequities of their country head on.

Amid Reykjavik’s frozen landscape, a woman takes mad honey with the man who has left her for another, and spends a chilling night with a violent Russian and his companion.

And in New England, two lovers face the cruelty of a host who lacks all humanity, while a mother takes pity on a street child she finds on a platform at Park Station.

Crowning this collection is a story cycle featuring a young Namibian and his Japanese friend, who spend a claustrophobic night in a chateau with a dark pool of glowing eels — this after being pulled into a tragedy on the ski slopes of Italy.

Following on from his award-winning first collection, published in English as The Alphabet of Birds, SJ Naudé’s second collection of short stories disturbs, surprises and enthrals.

Ook beskikbaar in Afrikaans as Dol Heuning.


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