Popular Swaziland Books

Weeding the Flowerbeds by Sarah Mkhonza

When Hoopoes Go to Heaven by Gaile Parkin

Ten-year-old Benedict is feeling happy. His family's new home in Swaziland has the most beautiful garden in the whole entire world, teeming with insects, frogs and his favourite cinnamon-coloured birds. Here, crouched in the cool shade of the lucky-bean tree, it's easy to forget the loneliness that comes from his siblings playing without him, easy to stop himself fretting Ten-year-old Benedict is feeling happy. His family's new home in Swaziland has the most beautiful garden in the whole entire world, teeming with insects, frogs and his favourite cinnamon-coloured birds. Here, crouched in the cool shade of the lucky-bean tree, it's easy to forget the loneliness that comes from his siblings playing without him, easy to stop himself fretting about how to fix his Mama's failing cake-baking business. Of course, there are many things in Africa that cannot be put right by a boy who isn't yet big. But in Benedict's wonder-filled world, even the ugliest situation has a certain magic. Warm, funny and brimming with life, Where Hoopoes Go to Heaven paints a fresh and compelling picture of life in Swaziland that will capture your imagination and restore your faith in humanity.

The Kingdom of Roses and Thorns by Debra Liebenow Daly

The Kingdom of Swaziland, in southern Africa, boasts breathtaking mountain ranges, friendly people and a peaceful political climate. Scratch the surface, and one finds a country battling the ravages of the world's worst HIV/AIDS epidemic, devastating poverty, and the lack of rights for women. In 'The Kingdom of Roses and Thorns' five Swazi women overcome devastating hardsh The Kingdom of Swaziland, in southern Africa, boasts breathtaking mountain ranges, friendly people and a peaceful political climate. Scratch the surface, and one finds a country battling the ravages of the world's worst HIV/AIDS epidemic, devastating poverty, and the lack of rights for women. In 'The Kingdom of Roses and Thorns' five Swazi women overcome devastating hardships with unwavering determination and inner strength. They are pulled between their faith in God, their knowledge of modern science, and their own traditional values. Anna, Sarie, Elizabeth, Busisiwe, and Thembekile all face different obstacles in their lives, but ultimately, they survive through the same strength, faith and perseverance that characterize women everywhere Against the striking backdrop of the Swazi mountains, these women are truly perfect roses in a difficult and thorny world.

Lonely Planet South Africa Lesotho & Swaziland by Lonely Planet , Mary Fitzpatrick , Kate Armstrong

South Africa is the most popular kid on the block in Africa and it's easy to see why. The southern end of Africa teems with adventure: hike, bike and fly amid craggy peaks and open plains, catch a tantalising glimpse of streakily painted zebras in the savanna, encounter the vibrant cultures of San, Khoikhoi, Zulu and Xhosa. And when you're ready for the high life, tour the South Africa is the most popular kid on the block in Africa and it's easy to see why. The southern end of Africa teems with adventure: hike, bike and fly amid craggy peaks and open plains, catch a tantalising glimpse of streakily painted zebras in the savanna, encounter the vibrant cultures of San, Khoikhoi, Zulu and Xhosa. And when you're ready for the high life, tour the vineyards or live it up in cities bursting with food, wine and culture. Tickle Your Tastebuds - take our insider tips for the best restaurants, wineries, cafes and bars. Unravel The Past - in-depth coverage of the region's eventful history. Get Active - handpicked listings so you know where to surf, dive, horse ride, sail, bike, hike and fly. Be The Expert - know your impala from your steenbok with our wildlife special section. Travel Safely - we keep you worded up on the scams, health issues and no-go areas.

A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn

Award-winning screenwriter Malla Nunn delivers a stunning and darkly romantic crime novel set in 1950s apartheid South Africa, featuring Detective Emmanuel Cooper -- a man caught up in a time and place where racial tensions and the raw hunger for power make life very dangerous indeed.In a morally complex tale rich with authenticity, Nunn takes readers to Jacob's Rest, a ti Award-winning screenwriter Malla Nunn delivers a stunning and darkly romantic crime novel set in 1950s apartheid South Africa, featuring Detective Emmanuel Cooper -- a man caught up in a time and place where racial tensions and the raw hunger for power make life very dangerous indeed.In a morally complex tale rich with authenticity, Nunn takes readers to Jacob's Rest, a tiny town on the border between South Africa and Mozambique. It is 1952, and new apartheid laws have recently gone into effect, dividing a nation into black and white while supposedly healing the political rifts between the Afrikaners and the English. Tensions simmer as the fault line between the oppressed and the oppressors cuts deeper, but it's not until an Afrikaner police officer is found dead that emotions more dangerous than anyone thought possible boil to the surface. When Detective Emmanuel Cooper, an Englishman, begins investigating the murder, his mission is preempted by the powerful police Security Branch, who are dedicated to their campaign to flush out black communist radicals. But Detective Cooper isn't interested in political expediency and has never been one for making friends. He may be modest, but he radiates intelligence and certainly won't be getting on his knees before those in power. Instead, he strikes out on his own, following a trail of clues that lead him to uncover a shocking forbidden love and the imperfect life of Captain Pretorius, a man whose relationships with the black and coloured residents of the town he ruled were more complicated and more human than anyone could have imagined. The first in her Detective Emmanuel Cooper series, "A Beautiful Place to Die" marks the debut of a talented writer who reads like a brilliant combination of Raymond Chandler and Graham Greene. It is a tale of murder, passion, corruption, and the corrosive double standard that defined an apartheid nation. I

Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives by Thomas French

Welcome to the savage and surprising world of Zoo Story, an unprecedented account of the secret life of a zoo and its inhabitants, both animal and human. Based on six years of research, the book follows a handful of unforgettable characters at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo: an alpha chimp with a weakness for blondes, a ferocious tiger who revels in Obsession perfume, and a brilli Welcome to the savage and surprising world of Zoo Story, an unprecedented account of the secret life of a zoo and its inhabitants, both animal and human. Based on six years of research, the book follows a handful of unforgettable characters at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo: an alpha chimp with a weakness for blondes, a ferocious tiger who revels in Obsession perfume, and a brilliant but tyrannical CEO known as El Diablo Blanco. Zoo Story crackles with issues of global urgency: the shadow of extinction, humanity's role in the destruction or survival of other species. More than anything else, though, it's a dramatic and moving true story of seduction and betrayal, exile and loss, and the limits of freedom on an overcrowded planet-all framed inside one zoo reinventing itself for the twenty-first century. Thomas French, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, chronicles the action with vivid power: Wild elephants soaring above the Atlantic on their way to captivity. Predators circling each other in a lethal mating dance. Primates plotting the overthrow of their king. The sweeping narrative takes the reader from the African savannah to the forests of Panama and deep into the inner workings of a place some describe as a sanctuary and others condemn as a prison. All of it comes to life in the book's four-legged characters. Even animal lovers will be startled by the emotional charge of these creatures' histories, which read as though they were co-written by Dickens and Darwin. Zoo Story shows us how these remarkable individuals live, how some die, and what their experiences reveal about the human desire to both exalt and control nature.

What The Future Holds by Sara Mkhonza

What the Future Holds follows the life of Lobenguni “Kiki” Mkhatshwa, a young Swazi woman of Nguni descent who, at the beginning of the novel, has brought her baby into town to confront the child’s father, Menzi Dlamini (Dlamini is a common Swazi clan name), at his place of work, in order to ensure that he pays child support. We then flash back to 1961, before Kiki was born What the Future Holds follows the life of Lobenguni “Kiki” Mkhatshwa, a young Swazi woman of Nguni descent who, at the beginning of the novel, has brought her baby into town to confront the child’s father, Menzi Dlamini (Dlamini is a common Swazi clan name), at his place of work, in order to ensure that he pays child support. We then flash back to 1961, before Kiki was born, and meet her mother, LaMsibi, and father, Gezani, who struggle to make a life for themselves as farmers in a small village in the Maphakane valley. Gezani is determined to ensure that his child has a better life than he has so he decides to have her educated. Gezani is a traditional Nguni who does not approve of Christianity and the foreign missionaries who bring it. However, he does appreciate the need for Swazi children to be able to read and write, and only missionary schools provide this education. Despite having convinced his father to disown her twenty years earlier when she converted to Christianity, Gezani seeks out his sister, Saraphina, a teacher at a missionary school, and asks that she takes in Kiki and sends her to school. Gezani then decides to leave his homestead and go back to working in the mines of Johannesburg in order to pay for Kiki’s education.

When the Ground Is Hard by Malla Nunn

In this stunning and heartrending tale set in a Swaziland boarding school, two girls of different castes bond over a shared copy of Jane Eyre. Adele Joubert loves being one of the popular girls at Keziah Christian Academy. She knows the upcoming semester at school is going to be great with her best friend Delia at her side. Then Delia dumps her for a new girl with more mone In this stunning and heartrending tale set in a Swaziland boarding school, two girls of different castes bond over a shared copy of Jane Eyre. Adele Joubert loves being one of the popular girls at Keziah Christian Academy. She knows the upcoming semester at school is going to be great with her best friend Delia at her side. Then Delia dumps her for a new girl with more money, and Adele is forced to share a room with Lottie, the school pariah, who doesn't pray and defies teachers' orders.  But as they share a copy of Jane Eyre, Lottie's gruff exterior and honesty grow on Adele, and Lottie learns to be a little sweeter. Together, they take on bullies and protect each other from the vindictive and prejudiced teachers. Then a boy goes missing on campus and Adele and Lottie must rely on each other to solve the mystery and maybe learn the true meaning of friendship.

Pains of a Maid by Sarah Mkhonza

Thembani's love for Jan - in the old South Africa - was banned by law and social norm, but she knew in her heart that he loved her too. Could they defy the forces ranged against them?

Devilman's Jungle by Gustav Bolinder

While others have written about many of the rites and ceremonies described by the author, much of it is not available to the general public since it is buried deep in teh jungle of discourse and scholarship. In other words, this is the first popular book to deal with the native African's conception of Magic.

2 Wheels, 2 Years & 3 Continents: A Bicyclist's Dream Fulfilled by Ralph W. Galen

The chronicle of a two-year bicycle odyssey by a retired orthodontist through Europe, the Middle East, South Africa, and the United States.

Among the Cities by Jan Morris

Here at last is a collection of the best work of Jan Morris, considered by many the preeminent travel writer of our age. Reviewing her most recent book, The matter of Wales, the Christian Science Monitor wrote, "With this book, Morris joins the immortals. The splendors of the prose are like Homer's sea, simply everywhere. She is an absolute master of the sentence." Include Here at last is a collection of the best work of Jan Morris, considered by many the preeminent travel writer of our age. Reviewing her most recent book, The matter of Wales, the Christian Science Monitor wrote, "With this book, Morris joins the immortals. The splendors of the prose are like Homer's sea, simply everywhere. She is an absolute master of the sentence." Included are 37 separate pieces drawn from earlier books that span Morris's entire career as well as pieces origninally written for this book. Whether taking us back to Berlin and Beirut of the 1950's or to Houston and Sydney of the 1980s, Morris depicts each place with elegance, passion and wit. She captures and conveys its complex personality and makes us see the familiar in a new light or introduces us to places off the beaten track, taking us around the globe from Sri Lanka and Cashmir to Trouville and Cozco to Wyoming and Bath. About the Author: Jan Morris is the author of such books as the Pax Britannica trilogy, Spain, Destinations, and, most recently, Journeys and The Matter of Wales.

Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales by Nelson Mandela

A cause for celebration, and a landmark work that gathers in one volume many of Africa's most cherished folktales. In these beloved stories we meet a Kenyan lion named Simba, a snake with seven heads, and tricksters from Zulu folklore; we hear the voices of the scheming hyena, and we learn from a Khoi fable how animals acquired their tails and horns. Creation myths tell us A cause for celebration, and a landmark work that gathers in one volume many of Africa's most cherished folktales. In these beloved stories we meet a Kenyan lion named Simba, a snake with seven heads, and tricksters from Zulu folklore; we hear the voices of the scheming hyena, and we learn from a Khoi fable how animals acquired their tails and horns. Creation myths tell us how the land, its animals, and its people all came into existence under a punishing sun or against the backdrop of a spectacularly beautiful mountain landscape. Whether warning children about the dangers of disobedience or demonstrating that the underdog can, and often does, win, these stories, through their depiction of wise animals as well as evil monsters, are universal in their portrayal of humanity, beasts, and the mystical. Translated from their original languages—Karanga, Nguni, Xhosa, and many others—these folktales are a testament to the craft of storytelling and the power of myth.

Minimax by Anna Livia

Minimax is the hilarious, often farcical, story of Minnie, her trials and romantic tribulations in London, Australia, and San Francisco. "Impressive powers of invention...pure and acidly funny."--The Village Voice  "A blend of north-of-the-equator magical realism, science fiction, and lesbian-feminist political savvy."--The Advocate

Stuarts' Field Guide to Mammals of Southern Africa: Including Angola, Zambia & Malawi by Chris Stuart , Tilde Stuart

Greater southern Africa has a wealth of mammal species, almost 400 – all of which are covered in this fully updated, comprehensive field guide. Now expanded to include species found in Angola, Zambia and Malawi, it has also been extensively revised to include: • the most recent research and taxonomy • revised distribution maps and many new images • colour-coded grouping of f Greater southern Africa has a wealth of mammal species, almost 400 – all of which are covered in this fully updated, comprehensive field guide. Now expanded to include species found in Angola, Zambia and Malawi, it has also been extensively revised to include: • the most recent research and taxonomy • revised distribution maps and many new images • colour-coded grouping of families • spoor and size icons • skull photographs, grouped for easy comparison • detailed descriptions of each species, offering insight into key identification characters, typical behaviour, preferred habitat, food choice, reproduction and longevity.