Looking for fabulous reads during the festive season for yourself and your loved-reading-ones? Here is a great guide: The Book Lounge’s FESTIVE READING GUIDE
The following Karavan Press & Friends titles feature:
Happy browsing, books shopping and reading!
Taking part in the Prince Albert Leesfees this year felt like a homecoming for The Fourth Boy, Andrew Robert Wilson‘s debut novel, which is partly set in the Karoo, with several pivotal scenes of the novel taking place in Prince Albert itself.
Andrew and I were in conversation about the book early on Saturday morning and enjoyed many other events on this year’s programme. It was great to listen to Martin Steyn speak about his work again, and to meet and talk to Alex Hamilton, among other wonderful authors.
Prince Albert is a quirky place to explore. By now, I have my favourites – like the Prince Albert Art Gallery, The Lazy Lizard, the Saturday Market, the Green Prince Gin Bar and many, many more. Most recent discovery: ONS – not to be missed when you visit!
Highlight of the festival since last year is Poetry at Sunrise. Prince Albert is full of talented youngsters and to see them perform their creative work in the stunning quarry just outside of the town’s centre is a magical experience.
Thank you to Hannes Visser and all the hardworking volunteers who put this inspiring festival together! One day back home and I am already looking forward to the next Leesfees, and I sincerely hope that I will be visiting Prince Albert again even sooner. So many places still to explore and the Karoo … The space, the light, the incredible, harsh beauty of it all … I can never get enough of it!
Thank you to De Kleine Prince for hosting me for the weekend. I felt like I was living in a fairytale place.
Until next year, or sooner, dear Prince Albert!
Our second book event with the wonderful Pippa Smith of The Book Revue will take place on Thursday, 4 September, at 10.30AM in Constantia and will feature Andrew Robert Wilson and his debut novel, The Fourth Boy. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Open Book Festival. Looking forward to another beautiful literary occasion!
It is time for the Prince Albert Leefees again (29-31 August 2025) and we are delighted that Andrew Robert Wilson features on the programme with his debut novel, The Fourth Boy, which is partly set in Prince Albert and the surroundings.
He will be in conversation with Karina M. Szczurek on Saturday, 30 August, 9:00-9:40AM.
Full festival programme:
Dear Joburg Readers,
Please join us for the Joburg launch of The Fourth Boy by Andrew Robert Wilson. Andrew will be in conversation with Michael Boyd, the author of The Weight of Shade.
LOVE BOOKS, Tuesday, 17 June 2025, 5.30 for 6PM
Hope to see you there!
Please join us for this special event, a joint launch of The Fourth Boy by Andrew Robert Wilson and Salt Water Pool Boy by Peter-Adrian Altini at Wordsworth Books Garden Route Mall on Tuesday, 20 May 2025, 17:30 for 18:00. The authors will be in conversation with Karina M. Szczurek.
Please join us for the Cape Town launch of Andrew Robert Wilson’s The Fourth Boy at The Book Lounge on Tuesday, 1 April 2025, 6 for 6:30PM. Andrew will be in conversation with John Maytham. Not to be missed!
Journalist Grant Asher (1980s Cape Town) gets told by his mother on her deathbed that his father (who was unknown to Grant) was both gay and Jewish. Grant decides to try to find his father, which leads him to Oudtsthoorn and the news that his father has just been murdered. Grant becomes a somewhat reluctant investigator which leads him to suspect that there may be a serial killer murdering people who were part of a group of the five hundred Polish Jewish orphans who were freed from Siberia in the 1940s and were taken in by South Africa. ~ Mervyn Sloman
Set mostly in the Klein Karoo, The Fourth Boy explores notions of belonging and a myriad of other longings which I found profoundly moving. It tells the story of a young man’s search for his father against the backdrop of the 80s in apartheid South Africa and the fate of five hundred Polish WWII refugee children who arrived in Oudtshoorn in 1943. It is also a story of love, loss and betrayal. The tenderness with which Andrew Robert Wilson portrays the relationships – love and friendship – at the centre of the novel – is remarkable, and the way he resolves its greatest mystery is simply masterful. ~ Karina Szczurek, Karavan Press
You can purchase the book here (20% off):
karavanpress.com 