Meg Vandermerwe’s debut collection of short stories, This Place I Call Home has hit the ground running. First there was the news that the CNA has chosen to stock her book, which as most people in the book world know is a huge coup. Then I got the news that we need to reprint the book.

This weekend saw the whole of “A Hijack Story”, the first story in the collection, printed in the Mail and Guardian Books section and two pages devoted to: a writer’s profile and a review by Shafinaaz Hassim in Rapport on Sunday in the monthly Boeke supplement.

Here is an excerpt of the review

Huis. Tuiste. ‘n Plek om tot rus te kom, tuis te kom.

Vir die Suid-Afrikaanse skrywer wat oor tyd, geskiedenis, kultuur en plek heen skryf, is die begrip “huis” of “tuiste” ook ‘n tematiese bindmiddel. Soos vir Meg Vandermerwe in haar debutbundel, This Place I Call Home.

…Onomwonde, rou eerlik, verwood haar karakters hul sienings, al is dit nie politiek korrek nie.

Die narratief is ‘n veilige, dog magtige vorm waarin debatte geopper kan word oor other-ing, oor hoe ons ander etiketeer en ontmenslik in die wyses waarop ons ons plek, ons tuiste, huis, definieer. This Place I Call Home is ‘n bundel wat daarin slaag om dit te doen.

The book also got a mention in the Sunday Independent in Maureen Isaacson’s round up of the week on the Books Page. And the book has already received a wonderful review on Litnet from Janet Van Eeden. Not bad for a new writer. Not bad at all. Especially when you read the Rapport’s prediction about Vandermerwe, “Onthou die naam: Meg Vandermerwe. Ons gaan nog baie van haar te lees kry.”

Book details

• This Place I Call Home by Meg Vandermerwe
  EAN: 9781920397029
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