The Agony of Theo & Flora

                                                                

Meet Author Mark Winkler

Luncheon at Buitenverwachting Restaurant

Thursday 22^ndNovember 2018 – 12 Noon for 12h30

Guest speaker Mark Winkler is the author of critically acclaimed novels; An Exceptionally Simple Theory (of Absolutely Everything); Wasted and The Safest Place You Know (shortlisted for the Sunday Times Barry Ronge Fiction Prize). His work is also published in the United States and in France. He lives in Cape Town.

Winkler was born in Johannesburg and grew up in what is now Mpumalanga; he attended high school at St. Alban's College, Pretoria and graduated from Rhodes University with a Bachelor of Journalism in. Like the main character in his new book, critically acclaimed writer Mark Winkler was also moved to create a novel after discovering a box of old letters.

The Book

In Theo & Flora, Winkler tells the story of a stalled novelist called Charlie Wasserman who, when his investment-banker wife divorces him, finds among her belongings a box of letters. Written between 1940 and 1944, the letters reveal a love affair between her grandfather, Theo, a forty-something lawyer at the time, and Flora, a much younger journalist.

Theo & Flora is a narrative enriched by Cape Town’s Jewish community at the time, with cameos by prominent South African visual artists like Irma Stern, Jean Welz and Gregoire Boonzaier, and numerous references to classical music that complements the book’s elegant prose. Not only a period piece, the novel also registers the world’s current political climate – from immigration politics to issues of cultural appropriation. Written with wit and poignancy, Theo & Flora is as moving as it is entertaining and the novel is a gratifying addition to this author’s body of work.

Talented Chef/Patron Edgar Osojnik will be creating a delicious gastronomic delight for our palates which will be accompanied by Buitenverwachting’s elegant wines.  The menu will be circulated as soon as I have it.  The price per person is R440 fully inclusive.

Please contact Sandy on email sandybailey@telkomsa.net or telephone 021 685 8016 for any further information or to book.

Meet Charismatic Author Mike Nicol

Delicious Lunch at Buitenverwachting Restaurant

Thursday 11^th October at 12 noon for 12h30

Born in Cape Town, guest speaker Mike Nicol was educated here and in Johannesburg, where he began his working life as a journalist. During the 1980s he moved back to Cape Town and worked on the magazine Leadership for a number of years. Towards the end of that decade, he published his first novel, The Powers That Be, resigned from the magazine and began what he calls "the scary life of a freelance journalist and writer." 

His genre: Thriller

September saw the publication of Mike Nicol’s exhilarating new thriller Sleeper. Set in locations in and around the city of Cape Town, the book features cool cat surfer PI Fish Pescado and Vicki Kahn, a gutsy local spy who has excellent taste in wine… she drinks Buitenverwachting, she is Fish’s girlfriend, both are well-known Nicol characters.

About the book:

The first bombshell Sleeper drops is the killing of the minister of energy. Then the cop investigating the murder commits suicide. Fearing a conspiracy, the minister’s lover hires PI Fish Pescado to find the killer. Then she goes missing. And Fish is being stonewalled by the cops because…

… In the dark shadows of Cape Town, there’s another game being played out. A complex one involving Iranian agents, the theft of highly enriched uranium, and the kidnapping of a top scientist. Ex-spy Vicki Kahn is bribed by her former handler to track the terrorists. The hunt is deadly and nothing is what it seems. A sleeper has been awoken… ISIS is involved. So is the CIA. There is chatter of a dirty bomb headed for Europe.

The price per person for a gourmet luncheon including Buitenverwachting’s elegant wines is R440 per person fully inclusive.  For more information or to book, please telephone Sandy on 021 685 8016 or get in touch by email sandybailey@telkomsa.net.

Looking forward to a delightful afternoon.

Enumerations by Maire Fisher

Launching a Brilliant Local Book

 Author Mάire Fisher was the guest speaker at a luncheon at Buitenverwachting Restaurant on Thursday 20 September.

Firstly, we celebrated the reopening of the Restaurant after its winter break. A well-rested Edgar Osojnik Chef/Patron prepared a delicious luncheon.

Secondly, we celebrated a local author who has written an amazing book The Enumerations. 

Mάire Fisher lives in Fish Hoek and agreed to be the guest speaker at a September luncheon.  She is a writer and editor, who is a member of The Grail Writing Retreats, her work has been published in anthologies and on various websites. She is also the author of Birdseye. She is married with two sons.

Penguin Random House South Africa sent me her book to have a look at. I couldn’t put it down. It is fascinating and gripping. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting her!

The Book

The Enumerations tells the story of seventeen-year-old Noah Groome, who suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Noah is caught up in a personal prison, unable to tell anyone about a dark force that is threatening to engulf him.

It is not only Noah that is suffering, but Mάire has also created a touching family drama that includes Noah’s mother, Noah’s emotionally blank father Dominic who has his own demons and Noah’s sister Maddie, his ally and protector, all profoundly affected by her brother’s disorder.

A book about mental health and familial bonds, it is a sensitive, warm-hearted novel which keeps one on the edge…   Professor Dan Joseph Stein, BSc, MB ChB, FRCPC, FRSSAf, PhD, DPhil who is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health at UCT and Director of the MRC Unit on “Anxiety and Stress Disorders has read the book and approved Mάire’s research on OCD.

A delicious lunch was enjoyed by all.

Sandy Bailey

Francoise Malby Anthony an Intrepid Woman

Launching – An Elephant In My Kitchen

Thursday 30th August at 12 noon for 12h30 at Catharina’s Restaurant, Steenberg Farm

Guest Speaker – Francoise Malby Anthony

A chic Parisienne, Françoise never expected to find herself living on a South African game reserve. But when she fell in love with renowned conservationist Lawrence Anthony her life took an unexpected turn.

Lawrence died in 2012 and Françoise was left to face the tough reality of running Thula Thula without him, even though she knew very little about conservation. She was short on money, poachers were threatening their rhinos, and one of their elephants was charging Land Rovers on game drives and terrifying guests. There was no time to mourn when Thula Thula’s human and animal family were depending on her.

How Françoise survived and Thula Thula thrived is beautifully described in this charming, funny and poignant book. Their elephant herd, rescued by Lawrence, shared Françoise's grief at his passing but over time forged a new relationship with her.

Meanwhile, Françoise fulfilled her dream of building a rescue centre for orphaned rhinos and other wildlife.

In Françoise’s words: “As I celebrate thirty years in South Africa, I have learned never to give up, to hold on to my dreams, always to search for a silver lining, and that by looking forward, the difficulties of the past eventually fade out of sight.”

This book is funny and insightful, full of wonderful characters, both human and animal. It is co-authored by Katja Willemsen who has written several fiction titles previously. This is her first work of non-fiction.

We return to Catharina’s Restaurant for this our 9^th Birthday. The Club was launched at Catharina’s on Thursday 20^th August 2009.  Chef has created a superb menu for us which will be accompanied by elegant wines from Steenberg.

The price per person is R420 which includes Wine and Service

For more information or to book please telephone 021 685 8016 or email sandybailey@telkomsa.net as always it is first come first served.

Pan Macmillan is proud to be publishing the powerful sequel to the bestselling memoir The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony

The Low Down on Steinhoff and Markus Jooste - Book Launch

Launching

 

Monday 6th August at 12 noon for 12h30

in the Ball Room, Kelvin Grove

  

Guest speaker author James Styan is a journalist and has done extensive research in writing this book. He spoke to us at a luncheon last December when we launched his book Heartbreaker: Christiaan Barnard and the first heart transplant a brilliant book and the 60 people at the lunch thought James was easily the best speaker heard for a long time.

Hot of the press is STEINHOFF: Inside SA’s Biggest Corporate Crash when I heard he had written this I was quick to approach him and make a date for us with him. Don’t miss it.  I know it is a different day but with the holiday coming up and clashes with other events Monday suited both James and us best. I hope it is good for you.

The Author

James-Brent Styan qualified as an accountant in 2003 and did his articles at an auditing firm before becoming a financial journalist. He has written for Finweek, Forbes Africa, Sake24, Fin24, Beeld and Die Burger and currently works as a communications practitioner. Steinhoff is his third book. His other books are Heartbreaker: Christiaan Barnard and the first heart transplant and Blackout - The Eskom Crisis. He is a gifted speaker.

The Book

On 5 December 2017, the Steinhoff group was still worth R193 billion. Twenty-four hours later more than R117 billion of this fortune was wiped out. The Steinhoff Empire, which took 50 years to build into an international business giant, had crumbled overnight.

Markus Jooste, Steinhoff’s flashy CEO, resigned via SMS and has since been fleeing an avalanche of scandals and accusations: luxury homes for a blonde mistress, allegations of fraud, racing horses and unparalleled extravagance, a lavish, black Jaguar for his university residence…

What exactly happened here? Who knew what? What is Steinhoff, who is Markus Jooste and what does it all have to do with the so-called Stellenbosch mafia? Where does business tycoon Christo Wiese, Shoprite and Pepkor fit in and where is the pensioners’ money?

James unpacks these and other questions in this astounding tale of power and greed, of secrets and deceit, and ultimately the biggest financial breakdown in the history of South Africa. Through interviews with trustworthy sources, revelations from confidential documents and in-depth research about Steinhoff’s history, he uncovers what the group doesn’t want you to know.

Steinhoff: Inside SA’s biggest corporate crash is a gripping financial thriller that will be told as a cautionary tale or salacious scandal in both boardrooms and living rooms for decades. 

The Ball Room in the historic Kelvin Grove Club is fabulous.   A two-course lunch with a glass of wine will cost you R300.

For more information or to book please telephone Sandy on 021 685 8071 or by email. sandybailey@telkkomsa.net 

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Ministry of Crime - Mandy Wiener

                                                                              

Guest Speaker – Mandy Wiener

The Jonkershuis, Groot Constantia

Wednesday 18^th July 2018 – 12 noon for 12h30

MANDY WIENER is an award-winning investigative journalist and author of the true-crime bestsellers Killing Kebble: An Underworld Exposed and Behind the Door: The Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp Story as well as the acclaimed memoir My Second Initiation (co-written with Vusi Pikoli). Wiener has been reporting on crime, the courts and politics in South Africa for more than a decade.

Both Killing Kebble and My Second Initiation were short-listed for the prestigious Alan Paton Sunday Times Literary Award and chosen as Jenny Crwys-Williams' Books of the Year in 2011 and 2013 respectively.

As a follow up to the bestselling Killing Kebble: An Underworld Exposed (2010), the new book from Mandy Wiener, Ministry of Crime: An Underworld Explored, examines how organised crime, gangsters and powerful political figures have been able to capture the law enforcement authorities and agencies. These various organisations have been eviscerated, hollowed out and left ineffective. They have been infiltrated and compromised and, as a result, prominent underworld figures have been able to flourish in South Africa, setting up elaborate networks of crime with the assistance of many cops. The criminal justice system has been left exposed and it is crucial that the South African public knows about the capture that has occurred on different levels.

Lunch is at Jonkershuis on the Groot Constantia Wine Estate the Restaurant is very conscious of the provenance, sustainability and the ethical content of all the food prepared as well as reflecting the rich Cape Malay heritage.  Our luncheon will be accompanied by wines from Groot Constantia.

The price per person is R300 including wine and service.  Please telephone Sandy on 021 685 8015 or email sandybailey@telkomsa.net to book or for more information.  Seating is limited so please book early.

THIS EVENT IS FULLY BOOKED

                                                                                                                     

 Launching

An authentic South African crime novel with typical local characters

 Buitenverwachting Restaurant on Thursday 21^st June

12 noon for 12h30

Meet Guest speaker Karin Brynard at the launch of the English version of her best-seller Tuisland.  Her work has been published in Afrikaans, English, German, French and Dutch to great acclaim, having won the University of Johannesburg Debut Prize, two M-Net awards, and an ATKV prize for prose. Tuisland shot to the top of the bestseller list in the country when it was published in 2016. She worked as a journalist and political correspondent for Rapport for many years and now writes full time. She lives in Stellenbosch.

Author Karin Brynard

The Book

Captain Albertus Beeslaar has had enough of the Kalahari. He is about to hand in his resignation, but before doing so he is sent into the heart of an ancient San community: an elder has died after being released from police custody and the San blame the police.

The small town of Witdraai borders on the world-famous Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, where the last of the Kalahari San eke out a living. A violent attack on a German tourist has unsettled the whole town – a case that is rubbing up Beeslaar’s new colleague, Colonel Koekoes Mentoor, the wrong way. She wants to turn her back on Witdraai and the bad memories the place holds for her.

As the heat rises, all hell breaks loose: a policeman is murdered; deep-seated corruption is threatening a major land-restitution plan for the San, and a mysterious killer is prowling the red dunes.

Amid all the controversy, Kytie Rooi, a cleaner at a luxury guesthouse in Upington and self-appointed protector of a strange street child, is fleeing into the deadly heat of the desert with her charge. In this world, places of safety are dangerously elusive.

A delicious lunch awaits accompanied by Buitenverwachting’s elegant wines. Menu available on request.

The price per ticket is R440 which includes wine and service.

Please book early as seating is limited. For more information or to book please telephone Sandy on 021 685 8016 or send an email sandybailey@telkomsa.net.

Woman & Home Book Editor has it as one of her 6 OF THE BEST - EDGE-OF-YOUR-SEAT THRILLERS in the June issue.

Homeland (Penguin by Karin Brynard

Chaos unfolds in the small town of Witdraai, and Captain Beeslaar is sent there to investigate a violent attack. This is an enthralling page-turner. w&h