2006 National Jewish Book Award

This has happened by Piera Sonnino has been named the runner up in the biography category of the 2006 National Jewish Book Awards.

Each year, the National Jewish Book Awards honor some of the best and most exciting authors in the field of Jewish literature. After more than 50 years of presenting these awards, hundreds of books have received the prestigious National Jewish Book Award, including titles by the top authors on the American Jewish literary scene.

Ten years after her return home from the lager, Piera Sonnino found the courage and the strength to tell the story of the extermination of her family by the Nazis; the tragedy of deportation, the death of her parents, her three brothers and two sisters in the concentration camps. Extraordinarily written, this account is strikingly accurate in bringing to life the methodical and relentless siege, the erosion of the freedoms and human dignity of the Italian Jews, from Mussolini's racial laws of 1938 to the final catastrophe of Auschwitz. In describing her arrival at the death camps, her writing dwells on the sea of mud, on a 'dimension that is completely contrary to all that which is human, a dimension that has even absorbed its own creators'. But the strength of her testimony rises from the mud, the personal diary becomes a universal voice that gives a name to that which cannot be expressed. Through her words, memory has the power to disarm this unspeakable evil.

The book will be released in April 2007.
Recommended price: R210

New releases from Struik Publishers (February 2007)

Are you wondering what to read? Good news! Struik has got good recommendations for you.

The Ultimate Diet Solution
by Anne Till

In The Ultimate Diet Solution, Registered Dietician Anne Till, RD (SA) reveals why we are facing this global pandemic and why many of us cannot seem to break free of the global trend of weight gain and poor health. The information is fascinating and shows how our daily choices actually impact on metabolism and cause poor health. Read more...

Buy it now!

The Ultimate Diet Solution Cookbook
by Nicola Duffield and Anne Till

The Ultimate Diet Solution Cookbook by registered dieticians Nicola Duffield and Anne Till will help you prepare healthy, quick-and-easy dishes with little fuss and effort that suit both a modern lifestyle and the family diet. The recipes promote weight loss and wholesome living, and address lifestyle-associated diseases such as coronary heart disease, high blood pressure and Type II diabetes. They are also ideal for people who are insulin resistant. Read more...

Buy it now!


The Atlas of Bird Migration
by Jonathan Elphick and Malcolm Ogilvie

Since the dawn of time people have wondered how birds could navigate from one end of the earth to the other, and back again, year after year, every year returning to the same area – sometimes even to the nesting spot. Read more...

Buy it now!

Pillowbook
by Dr Eve

In the early 14th century Japanese tradition allowed for a young woman to receive a PILLOWBOOK from her mother on the eve of her wedding. Placed under the bride's pillow this book was filled with sexual permission, advice, tips and techniques for the young lovers. Read more...

Buy it now!

Star of the Morning Cape Town Launch

Random House is pleased to announce the publication of Star of the Morning, the new novel from Pamela Jooste, the acclaimed award-winning author of Dance with a Poor Man’s Daughter, Frieda and Min, Like Water in Wild Places, and People Like Ourselves.

Star of the Morning follows the lives of two Cape Town sisters, Ruby and Rose. Within their own social grouping, the sisters live at the poor end of town. When their mother dies shortly after their father, Ruby and Rose are dependent on their “respectable” Auntie Olive, who outsources their upbringing to the nuns at the Sacred Heart orphanage. The sisters stick together through their days in the orphanage; through monthly Sunday lunches at Auntie Olive’s table; through separation when Ruby, the eldest, is sent out to work; and through love, death, marriage and major sea changes in the world around them.

Star of Morning uses the characters of Ruby and Rose to depict the poignant and often complex bond shared by sisters of all backgrounds. Pamela Jooste once again demonstrates a profound appreciation for and understanding of relationships and of that which separates and unites us as humans.

You are invited to join the author at the international launch of Star of the Morning:

Date: Wednesday, 21 February 2006
Time: 5:30 for 6:00 pm
Venue: Welgemeend
Address: 29 Kloof Street, Gardens, Cape Town
RSVP: Laura Boon: 083 659-3166 or email laura@lbcommunications.co.za
by Friday 16 February

Star of the Morning Joburg Launch

Random House is pleased to announce the publication of Star of the Morning, the new novel from Pamela Jooste, the acclaimed award-winning author of Dance with a Poor Man’s Daughter, Frieda and Min, Like Water in Wild Places, and People Like Ourselves.

Star of the Morning follows the lives of two Cape Town sisters, Ruby and Rose. Within their own social grouping, the sisters live at the poor end of town. When their mother dies shortly after their father, Ruby and Rose are dependent on their “respectable” Auntie Olive, who outsources their upbringing to the nuns at the Sacred Heart orphanage. The sisters stick together through their days in the orphanage; through monthly Sunday lunches at Auntie Olive’s table; through separation when Ruby, the eldest, is sent out to work; and through love, death, marriage and major sea changes in the world around them.

Star of Morning uses the characters of Ruby and Rose to depict the poignant and often complex bond shared by sisters of all backgrounds. Pamela Jooste once again demonstrates a profound appreciation for and understanding of relationships and of that which separates and unites us as humans.

You are invited to join the author at the Johannesburg launch of Star of the Morning:

Date: Wednesday, 28 February 2006
Time: 5:30 for 6:00 pm
Venue: Hazeldene Hall
Address: 20 Ridge Road, Parktown, Johannesburg
RSVP: Kim Rudman: 011 658-1581 or email kimr@lbcommunications.co.za
by Thursday 22 February

Under the Sway by Justin Fox

Buy it now!

UNDER THE SWAY
A photographic journey through Mozambique
Bewitched by Mozambique's dazzling beauty, its alluring architecture, multihued seascapes, rambunctious markets and harbours and antiquated sailing craft, travel writer Justin Fox set out to capture all of these in his latest book, a hardcover, full-colour photographic feast accompanied by a compelling text.

Under the Sway does not pretend to cover the whole of Mozambique, nor does it intend to cover its essential sites. What are captured here are glimpses of a country, by a traveller who has traversed its highs and lows, unembroidered and unembellished – but photographed by a master craftsman who takes us along on a photographic journey from the deep south of Ponto de Oura to the wild north at Entre Lagos in a sweeping exploration of this impressive country.

No stranger to travel, Justin Fox is a photojournalist for Getaway magazine and researches stories throughout Africa. Fox holds a doctorate in English from Oxford University that he attended as a Rhodes Scholar. He is a two-time Mondi journalism award winner. "Mozambique was like nothing I'd experienced before, like no road I'd ever taken," he says. "[There] I'd seen some of Africa's finest buildings and met some of its bravest, most optimistic people. I'd microlighted through coral gardens, sailed a night dhow to Ibo. I'd scaled the ancient walls of Fort Sebastian and watched fisherman mending their sails in the street. I'd done the Dondo to Caia road. I'd tasted molten prawns, cashew nuts lightly peri peri'd and too many Dois M beers. I'd found idyllic, palm-rimmed beaches, crumbling cathedrals and forgotten Portuguese forts. And, Mozambique had opened my camera eye."

Under the Sway is a visually striking, beautifully designed and highly personal depiction by a gifted artist that represents a landscape about which he is passionate. Far more than yet another coffee-table book, it will hold readers in its thrall as we share Fox’s innovative vision and experience of a glorious land whose popularity with tourists - from South Africa in particular – continues to grow in leaps and bounds.
For sample photographs from Under the Sway, please visit our website at http://www.umuzi-randomhouse.co.za/.

Under the Sway by Justin Fox is published by Umuzi, the South African imprint of Random House. It will be available in bookshops from February 2007 at a recommended retail price of R250.


Issued by Daniel Rabinowitz, Sales and Marketing Manager, Random House (Pty) Ltd. For further information, or to set up an interview with the author, please contact Lyn Riesnik at Random House (Pty) Ltd. E-mail: lriesnek@randomhouse.co.za; Tel: +27 11 484 3538; Fax: +27 11 484 6180

Star of the Morning by Pamela Jooste

Buy it now!

STAR OF THE MORNING
A new bestseller from Pamela Jooste!

Star of the Morning is the latest novel by acclaimed South African author Pamela Jooste. It tells the story of Ruby and Rose, two Cape Town sisters who live on the poor side of town. Their lives are torn apart when their father is killed and their mother dies shortly thereafter. The girls’ destinies are entrusted to their “respectable” Auntie Olive. Ashamed of her sister’s children, whose poverty she believes will reflect on her own status, she outsources their care to the nuns at the Sacred Heart orphanage, granting them a visit for Sunday lunch once a month.

Jooste sensitively explores the special bond shared between sisters as we follow the lives of Ruby and Rose, from their days at the orphanage and Sunday lunch with Auntie Olive to Ruby’s first job ‘in service’ at a Dock Road hotel and Rose’s marriage, through love, death, scandal and the major sea changes that take place in the world around them.

Star of the Morning is about relationships, about overcoming adversity, love, heartbreak and joy. It’s about lives that may seem small from the outside but that are more than big enough to absorb and poignantly reflect the whole spectrum that life has to offer, joy, adversity, laughter and tears, the things that we say, and the things that we all too often regret leaving unsaid.

Jooste’s previous books include the award-winning, Dance with a Poor Man’s Daughter, Frieda and Min, Like Water in Wild Places, and People Like Ourselves.

Star of the Morning by Pamela Jooste is available from Random House. The book is available from February 2007 at a recommended retail price of R176.


Issued on behalf of Random House by Laura Boon Communications. For further information contact Laura Boon or Kim Rudman on (011) 658-1581 or laura@lbcommunications.co.za