Shortlisted for the 2022 South African Literary Awards
Longlisted for the 2022 Sunday Times Literary Awards
In the Namibian harbour town of Lüderitz, a liminal space where desert meets ocean, a terrible history is made personal when filmmaker Henry van Wyk must confront a childhood tragedy that has moulded his life.
Having returned to his birthplace in an attempt to get his career back on track, Henry struggles to complete his latest documentary. Every morning he swims in a nearby tidal pool on Shark Island, and finds himself increasingly drawn to the small town and its romantic possibilities. But the tranquil land hides a bloody history.
At the Edge of the Desert is a meditation on loss, isolation and love. It asks us to consider the implications of telling someone else’s story.
Grand Prize Winner of the 2015 Red City Review Book Award
Silver Winner of the 2014 Foreword INDIEFAB Award for Humour
Stock is where it all begins. The chef’s primordial soup.
Henry First could feel the kitchen waiting; he could feel it demanding magic. One last trick, please, it said to him.
On the steel table in front of him was the cast of secondary characters: vegetables, raw carcass bones, trimmings and waste. Bit parts awaiting the star.
Having entered the Restaurant of the Year competition, Henry prepares a dish of lampreys to submit to the judges who are due to arrive shortly. Unfortunately, in the confusion, someone is injured . . . and Henry’s afternoon begins to unravel. Only a miracle – or a chance discovery – can save him.
Henry First is a darkly funny and multi-layered novel, a fast-paced story where people do despicable things to one another – all in the service of a jolly good meal.