These are the books that our books editor, Meneesha Govender, received recently. They may be reviewed later
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Dollbaby
by Laura Lane McNeal (Penguin Random House)
When Ibby’s father dies in an accident in 1964, her mother abandons her in New Orleans with her grandmother Fannie.
Fannie, who lives in an ornate uptown Victorian mansion, is unlike anyone Ibby has ever met – eccentric, prone to stints in the local asylum and the keeper of many dark, tragic family secrets.
Fannie’s black cook, Queenie, and her daughter, Dollbaby, take it upon themselves to guide Ibby in the ways of the South – both its grand traditions and its darkest secrets.
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Untouchable
by Ava Marsh (Penguin Random House)
Stella was loved, safe and respectable.
One mistake changed all that.
Now she’s an escort – living in a world of desire, betrayal and secrets.
A friend (a fellow call girl) is murdered, and Stella has to choose – forget what she saw or risk everything to get justice for her friend.
Chasing the truth is a dangerous pursuit. Nothing is off limits for her or them.
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Almost Grace
by Rosie Rowell (Hot Key Books)
Grace and her friends are renting housing on the Cape coast.
They’ve finished their matric exams and this is their rite of passage into adulthood.
But this means different things to each of them.
Brett and Louisa plan to travel and go to university.
But Grace is unsure of where she’s going, leaving her anxious.
Determined to take control of whatever she can, she starts with her body.
Then she meets laid-back surfer, Spook. His nomadic lifestyle appears relaxed and honest.
But is it what Grace should aspire to? Should she let herself fall in love?