The Franschhoek Literary Festival is the annual event that brings books and book lovers from around the country, in fact around the world, to a small and beautiful town in the Western Cape Winelands, for an extended weekend of absolutely everything to do with books.
Really everything, from talks to meet-ups, workshops to tea-parties, and a lot of “looking around at books” and bumping into fabulous authors… the Franschhoek Literally Festival is a bookish weekend not to be missed.
- Take a look at the Programme and Book Events As Soon as You Can:
- Start early and Head for the Countryside:
- The Cape Town Silent Book Club:
- The Invincible Miss Cust is about the first ever women veterinarian in the UK.
- The Woman at the Wheel about the first Mrs Benz, that proved that the modern automobile was an option, in a world that couldn’t think further than a horse and cart.
- Follow me to Africa is about the paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey.
- The Final Plot Twist with Kate Mosse.
- The Burning Chambers: The series begins in the 1562, in Carcassonne, at the start of the French Wars of Religion. A terrifying time to be a Catholic or a Protestant, war smashes its way into their lives and destroys all that they know to be true. The book begins with Minou, a nineteen year old woman who never suspected her family roots and Piet Reydon, a Hugunot refugee who needs her help to survive.
- The City of Tears: Ten years later and Minou and her children return to Paris, for a Royal Wedding, only to find themselves caught up in St. Bartholomew’s Massacre. The family is divided and with maddened looters rampaging through the city, armed with religion, Minou’s daughter goes missing and the remains of the family escape to Amsterdam to pick up the pieces of their lives. Of course they can’t carry on, the family is left bereft.
- The Ghost Ship: Traveling into the 1600s and Louise is Minou’s granddaughter. She is due to inherit a fortune and she wants to fulfil her dream to become a sailor of the seven seas, only in those days it wasn’t becoming for a young lady. This book is about pirateering, deep dark secrets, disguise upon disguise… while the religious wars are no longer raging quite so fiercely, the Inquisition is out to control and conquer anyone who might step in their quest for power.
- The Map of Bones: The final book in the series, in 1688 Suzanne, Louise’s niece sets out to find Louise and discover what happened to the family. In doing so we discover what life was like for the very early settlers. Several years later another relative, scours through Louise’s diaries and sets out to discover the truth… several and turns and travel into the heart of the Cape to Olifantshoek and later Franschhoek. In a time where travel was really all about pioneering and women did not travel alone. It turns out the from generation to generation the saga pieces together the history of the time, through the eyes of a family of particularly feisty female protagonists. Highly recommend this, if you are looking for a fabulous series to settle into.
- Paper Cuts in the Old School Hall with Paige Nick, Andrea Shaw and Pippa Hudson.
- Leave Time for Browsing:
- Die Vyf Susters by Eleanor Baker: Because I always have an Afrikaans book in my nook stack.
- Follow Me to Africa by Penny Haw: My current read.
- Write Your Book in a 100 Days by Sarah Bullen and Kate Emmmerson: All the cosy crime writers that I have interviewed and chatted with lately went on a writing course, perhaps its time.
- Buried Treasure by Sven Axelrad: Why have I never read his books before… a couple of pages in and I know I am going to be late for work because of it.
- Khaki Fever by Lindsay Norman: Because who can resist a local read, set in the wild.
- Prisoners of Jan Smuts by Karen Horn: There is family history in here and I am intrigued… is there anything better than a trip into the past.
- Unsolicited by Andrea Shaw: Another local crime read… and basically her presentation with Paige Nick was superb… her overview of her book was intriguing… had to buy it!!!
- Expect to Bump in to Famous Authors Roaming Around:
Your day actually begins weeks before, when the event is launched online… browse through the programme and book the events that you want to attend. Clear your calendar and book immediately, this is the most popular book event of the year and everyone who reads/writes/publishes and just loves books, will be there. Needless to say, I did not book immediately. I considered and reconsidered and literally couldn’t decide which events to book, and in the end time took care of the problem, things sold out fast. I ended up booking whatever I could – which, it turns out, is also a good option. You can safely forget about wandering into Franschhoek and picking up tickets to events on the day… that will not happen. Sold out is really Sold Out.
If you can’t book the weekend away then get going first thing in the morning and make a day of it. The first stop in Franschhoek, once you have found a parking spot, is to head for Terbodore Coffee and get your mind into gear for a day of literary fun. You will be surrounded by the bustle of authors and publishers alike, prepping their stands, getting themselves ready for a busy day, not to mention loading themselves with a quick dose of caffeine.
From Terbodore, we headed through the Franschoek Saturday Morning Market, and then straight to the Festival Hub, to find a good spot to join the Cape Town Silent Book Club.
One of our favourite Clubs to be a part of. You can find the Cape Town Silent Book Club on instagram, it is a group of book lovers that travel around from venue to venue, where they spend an hour together reading. We have visited all sorts of fantastic “new to us” places, all over Cape Town, to read and enjoy a fine coffee. It is open to everyone, it is a fun way to make bookish friends… and we love it.
The father person recently discovered Kristin Hannah, and I was reading Penny Haw’s latest read. I have absolutely loved all her previous reads. Penny Haw writes adventurous biographies about women in science, women who have done great things and yet, somehow didn’t make it into the history books. I cannot describe how well she creates her characters and how intriguing her stories are.
You can read my interview with her and reviews of her previous books here.
Kate Mosse had several events on the calendar, and I must have bought the last available ticket to this one. To listen to her talk about her writing and her knowledge of all things historical… the amount of research that went into creating the epic saga of the Joubert Family Chronicles.
If there was one person that I wish I had bumped into and asked a few questions, Kate Mosse would have been it. The incredible plotter and planner behind the Joubert Family Chronicles. I just listened to the entire series on audible, and what a series it was. I love a historical saga, and one that flows from generation to generation is an absolute winner. In her talk she spoke about her love for adventure stories, how her father read “King Solomon’s Mine” to her when she was five years old. Her love for all things Enid Blyton and growing up in Sussex where things are properly old and your games in the park could literally involve Roman centurions and knights in castles. She loves doing the research and finding out the details of folks’ lives in olden times, what they were thinking, reading diaries and documents, discovering details including what they ate. The details provide the framework on which to build her characters, and so begins the story, followed by loads of refining, before she has a series.
The Joubert Chronicles
Gripping historical fiction from start to finish, literally until the last page… historical details provide the framework for divided loyalties, deceit and deception, love in war and war in love, four books later and you will still be wishing for more.
I recently interviewed Paige Nick on the Blog, with a review of her latest book, Book People. So I was thrilled to see that she was also having a session. Her session was with another, new to me crime writer, Andrea Shaw… who was so good I had to buy her book, Unsolicited.
Together they spoke about the publishing industry in South Africa, and the journey to publishing their books. They were once “wannabe” authors, and how they made their own way through the publishing industry to publication. It is all about the story, and making the story the best it can be – they each took writing courses to improve their art. That being said, it is also all about standing out and getting noticed. Get your book seen by as many folk as possible, because there will be a lot of rejection and if not rejection then zero acknowledgement. Follow all the submission instructions to the letter, do your research and expect to be rejected, but don’t consider that a fail – that publisher may have been looking for something else at the time.
I loved their success stories, loved their energy, optimism and enthusiasm. There was a lot of nodding in the audience from experienced writers, publishing is a tough minefield to navigate. And a lot of nodding in the audience from wannabe writers, “aha moments” and hope for a positive outcome. So great to hear about their journeys… and basically it is all about hard work. A book definitely doesn’t just happen.
All the publishers were there, Exclusive Books had pop up shops and displays at every talk and I even discovered that Franschhoek has their very own Wordsworth. So yes… I do have a new TBR pile… but I wouldn’t expect less from a Book Festival. One things I have to say about the Festival, is that there was so much great exposure for local writers and their books. South African writers are on it, they are a force to be reckoned with and if you haven’t joined the tide of local writers, then now is the time.
Reviews for these se7en books will follow shortly…
As you wander from venue to venue there are lots of stalls to grab a coffee and a bight to eat, and of course Franschoek is not short of lovely eateries, but that’s a whole ‘nother post. Next year I will be mutch better prepared and have a pen stashed in my pocket and confidence in my step, and I will ask all these amazing authors to sign my programme, and possibly grab some interviews!!! My absolute highlight was connecting with Cape Town’s Crime Crew… these gals sure know how to write, an absolute delight!!!
So many lessons learned… and the biggest one: Get on the mailing list for the Franschhoek Literally Festival, get advance warning about everything, start saving and planning, because this can only get better and better!!!