MY BROTHER'S BOOK
253pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2008
A novel about two siblings, from their childhood in the Eastern Cape in the 1960s to their adulthood in 2004 in Johannesburg. Lily struggles to come to terms with her betrayal of her brother, Tom, which destroyed his life and their relationship.
"Few South African writers can capture the complicated magic and cultural confusion of a constantly changing country like Jo-Anne Richards can. My Brother’s Book is wry and moving and beautifully observed." Peter Godwin, author of When a Crocodile Eats the Sun
"Richards has an acute sense of place, in its small town and big city guises, and a wonderful ear for South African idiom. My Brother’s Book is her most ambitious work to date. Moving subtly between past and present, it casts a searing light on the way we reveal and conceal our truths in stories." Iva Vladislavic, author of Portrait with Keys and The Restless Supermarket
South African journalist and author Jo-Anne Richards is the author of The Imagined Child, The Innocence of Roast Chicken and Touching the Lighthouse. She lectures in journalism at the University of the Witwatersrand.