Isaac is smuggled into Botswana lying beneath a coffin in the back of a hearse in Eleanor Morse’s White Dog Fell From the Sky. He is left lying on the side of the road, and when he comes to, he sees a white dog sitting next to him. “I am already dead, he thought, and this is my companion.”

Read the rest of the excerpt, as Isaac meets a woman who helps him, tries to find his way in Botswana and encounters someone from back home:

The hearse pulled onto a scrubby track, traveled several hundred feet, and stopped. The passenger door opened, followed by the driver’s door. Two men stepped out. They walked to the rear door, and to- gether the men slid out a coffin and laid it carefully on the ground. They returned to the car, struggled with something inside, and dragged out a limp body. It was so covered with road dust, its face was gone.
The driver splashed a bucket of water over it, nudged it with a toe. Rivulets ran down the side of one cheek, water etching through dust to walnut-colored skin.
“He’s late, no more in this world,” the passenger said.

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• White Dog Fell From the Sky by Eleanor Morse
  EAN: 9780241145654
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Incredibly moving and beautifully drawn, White Dog Fell From the Sky by Eleanor Morse is an intimate portrait of Africa. Botswana, 1976.

Isaac Muthethe thinks that he is dead. Forced to flee his country after witnessing a friend murdered by white members of the South African Defense Force, he finds himself, for the first time, in a country without apartheid. Smuggled across the border from South Africa in a hearse, buried in a coffin, he awakens covered in dust, staring at blue sky and the face of White Dog. Walking along the road into Gaborone, Botswana’s capital, White Dog following close behind, a chance encounter with an old school acquaintance changes the course of Isaac’s life – as does the job he finds as gardener for a young American woman, Alice Mendelssohn, who has abandoned her Ph.D. studies in order to follow her husband to Africa. But when Isaac goes missing and Alice goes searching for him, what she finds out will change her life and inextricably bind her to this sunburned, beautiful land.

“Eleanor Morse captures the magic of the African landscape and the terror and degradation of life under apartheid in White Dog Fell from the Sky …tense and heartfelt”. — O, The Oprah Magazine.

“Magic, friendship, the tragedy of apartheid and the triumph of loyalty are recounted in poetic, powerful prose by this unconventional and intelligent writer. Shattering and uplifting”. — Kuki Gallmann, author of I Dreamed of Africa.

“Morse’s writing is lyrical and quite beautiful, with searing descriptions of the dusty earth, unforgiving sun, and stark skies”. — Entertainment Weekly.

About the author

Eleanor Morse has taught in adult education programs, in prisons, and in university systems, both in Maine and in southern Africa. She currently works as an adjunct faculty member with Spalding University‘s MFA Writing program in Louisville, Kentucky. She lives on Peaks Island, Maine.

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• White Dog Fell From the Sky by Eleanor Morse
  EAN: 9780241145654
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Penguin presents a new edition of The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection by Alexander McCall Smith:

Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi have always relied on the advice of the classic guide to their trade, The Principles of Private Detection. But who is the eminent author, Mr Clovis Andersen, and what if he were to come to Botswana? That seems a very unlikely possibility, and yet …When Mr Andersen visits Botswana on holiday, he is delighted and intrigued to stumble across a roadside sign that reveals the existence of the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Professional courtesy suggests that he call and announce himself. Meanwhile, Mma Makutsi and Phuti Radiphuti are embarking on married life and building a new house – a tricky business under any circumstances but especially hazardous when the name of the contractor is the Joy and Light Building Company.

About the author

Alexander McCall Smith is one of the world’s most prolific and most popular authors. His career has been a varied one: for many years he was a professor of Medical Law and worked in universities in the United Kingdom and abroad. Then, after the publication of his highly successful No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which has sold over twenty million copies, he devoted his time to the writing of fiction and has seen his various series of books translated into over forty languages and become bestsellers through the world.

McCall Smith is also the author of collections of short stories, academic works, and over thirty books for children. He has received numerous awards for his writing, including the British Book Awards Author of the Year Award in 2004 and a CBE for service to literature in 2007. He holds honorary doctorates from nine universities in Europe and North America.

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• The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection by Alexander McCall Smith
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  EAN: 9780349123158
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Penguin has shared an extract from Journey from Darkness by Gareth Crocker, an adventure story set on the borders between South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

In this extract, twin brothers Edward and Derek Hughes encounter a rare Desert Elephant that has been injured and Derek approaches her despite Edward’s misgivings:

The elephant had drifted away from where she had been feeding and was now leaning against an old thorn tree, blood muddying the sand at her feet. Her body listed forward like a great ship going down at the bow.

‘If she collapses, we’ll lose her,’ Edward whispered, his words weighed down with concern. ‘She’ll never make it back up.’

‘Damn it . . . there must be something we can do.’

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• Journey from Darkness by Gareth Crocker with Llewellyn Crocker
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  EAN: 9780143530428
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Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi have always relied on the advice of the classic guide to their trade, The Principles of Private Detection. But who is the eminent author, Mr Clovis Andersen, and what if he were to come to Botswana? That seems a very unlikely possibility, and yet…

When Mr Andersen visits Botswana on holiday, he is delighted and intrigued to stumble across a roadside sign that reveals the existence of the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Professional courtesy suggests that he call and announce himself.

Meanwhile, Mma Makutsi and Phuti Radiphuti are embarking on married life and building a new house – a tricky business under any circumstances but especially hazardous when the name of the contractor is the Joy and Light Building Company.

The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection is the thirteenth novel in the wonderful No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, from master storyteller Alexander McCall Smith.

About the author

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of over sixty books on a wide array of subjects. For many years he was Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh and served on national and international bioethics bodies. In 1999 he achieved global recognition for his award-winning No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, and thereafter devoted his time to the writing of fiction, including the 44 Scotland Street and the von Igelfeld series. His books have been translated into forty-two languages. He lives in Edinburgh with his wife Elizabeth, a doctor.

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• The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection: by Alexander McCall Smith
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  EAN: 9781408702611
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The latest in the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series!

As the countdown to Mma Makutsi’s wedding begins, all is not as it should be at the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. While investigating unpleasant occurrences on a southern cattle-post, Mma Ramotswe, always on the side of the weak against the strong, has reason to reflect on Rule No.3 of The Principles of Private Detection: never lie to the client. Apprentice mechanic Charlie seems to be avoiding certain important responsibilities. And as Mma Makutsi’s big day approaches, her nemesis Violet Sephotho is casting her net wider: by standing for election which could spell trouble for the entire nation.

But as friends and family gather under starry African night skies, it turns out that even the most perplexing of apparitions – and the most shocking of crimes – may yield to rational explanation. And, of course, to Mma Ramotswe’s inimitable way with love, intuition and redbush tea.

About the author

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie Series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland. Visit him online at www.alexandermccallsmith.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

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• The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith
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  EAN: 9781408702598
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Author information courtesy Book Reporter

In the eleventh offering from Alexander McCall Smith’s wildly popular No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, there’s mischief, once again, in the air.

Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are called to a safari lodge in Botswana’s Okavango Delta to carry out a delicate mission on behalf of a former guest.

The Okavango makes Precious appreciate once again the beauty of her homeland: it is a paradise of teeming wildlife, majestic grasslands and sparkling water. However, it is also home to rival safari operators, fearsome crocodiles and disgruntled hippopotamuses.

What’s more, Mma Makutsi still does not have a date for her wedding to Phuti Radiphuti and is feeling rather tetchy herself. But Precious knows that with a little patience, just as the wide river will gently make its way round any obstacle, so will everything work out for the best in the end.

Readers will agree that this touching and dramatic new installment in Alexander McCall Smith’s beloved and best-selling series is the finest yet.

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• The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith
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  EAN: 9781408701058
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Daar is drie toilette in die sentrum se damestoiletgeriewe. Die eerste een is beset, en ek gebruik die tweede toilet. Toe ek die deur oopmaak nadat ek klaar is en al my klere weer op hul regte plekke is, staan daar skielik ’n onbekende man voor my. Ek sien onmiddellik die haat in sy lyf en in sy oë. My eerste oorblufte gedagte is dat ek per ongeluk in die manstoilette beland het, maar nee, ek sou mos nie … Voordat ek iets kan sê of doen, stamp hy my met geweld agtertoe sodat ek lomp en hard plat op my boude terug in die hokkie val. My kop stamp teen die toiletring. My rug stamp teen die voetstuk van die toilet, wat nog spoel en spoel en spoel … My handsak met die rewolwer in val ver van my af weg. Ek sien sy blitsvinnige bewegings en sy aggressie, dit spring uit sy lyf …

Al die bloed in my lyf stol.

Toe Elsabet Louw een Woensdagmiddag wreed verkrag is in die damestoilette by ‘n winkelsentrum, het sy aanvanklik wat met haar gebeur het, ontken. Deur die verkragting as bloot ‘n ‘aanranding’ te beskryf, het sy haar teen die wrede werklikheid beskerm. Toe sy uiteindelik die waarheid konfronteer, het Elsabet wraak gesweer teenoor haar verkragter, wat ook vier ander vroue verkrag het. Voor sy teen die man sou getuig, het sy haar voorgeneem om haar .38 Special by die hof in te smokkel en hom koelbloedig dood te skiet. Haar dag van vergelding, ‘n Woensdag, was naby …

Woensdag is die ware verhaal van ‘n vrou wat wraak gesoek het maar vergifnis gevind het, en wat nie net haar eie lewe nie, maar ook dié van ander slagoffers van verkragting weer kon opbou.

Oor die skrywer

Elsabet Louw het ’n graad aan die Universiteit van Stellenbosch verwerf. Sy is getroud, het twee kinders en woon in Bloemfontein. As gevolg van haar ervaring het sy ondersteuningsgroepe vir verkragtingslagoffers regdeur Suid-Afrika gestig.

Boekbesonderhede

• Woensdag: ‘n Ware verhaal van verkragting en vergifnis deur Elsabet Louw
  EAN: 9781770200340
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It is a troublesome fact on which even Mma Ramotswe and her assistant Mma Makutsi agree: there are things that men know and ladies do not, and vice versa.

It is unfortunate, for example, when Mma Ramotswe’s newest client is the big-shot owner of the ailing Kalahari Swoopers, that one thing lady detectives know very little about is football. And when the glamorous Violet Sephotho sets her sights on Mma Makutsi’s unsuspecting fiance, it becomes exasperatingly clear that some men do not know how to recognise a ruthless Jezebel even when she is bouncing up and down on the best bed in the Double Comfort Furniture Shop.
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Work Diva is a practical but fun guide for women who are dealing with a wide range of work-related issues. It also contains gentle life lessons without patronising or preaching and focuses on the typical obstacles and challenges women face when they want to grow their careers and themselves.

Topics covered include ‘Are you a diva or a doormat?’; ‘To breed or not to breed’; ‘The on and off of office romances’; ‘Communication is a diva’s best friend’; and many other vital and relevant topics for the working woman.
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