OM ALLEEN TE GAAN

351pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2021

Cato, a grieving middle-aged woman from Johannesburg, goes on a boat trip on the Nile, and meets Da'oud, a young Egyptian angry about the socio-political unrest and injustice his family has been exposed to for decades.

Nicole Jaekel Strauss's debut collection of short stories, Maal (2010) won the Eugène Marais and the UJ prize for debut work in 2011. Her second short story collection, As in die mond (2017), won the Jan Rabie/Rapport award. She lives in Cape Town.