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Johannesburg
Johannesburg | Fiona Melrose
9 posts | 3 read | 18 to read
6 December 2013. Johannesburg. Gin has returned home from New York to throw a party for her mother's eightieth birthday; a few blocks away, at the Residence, Nelson Mandela's family prepares to announce Tata Mandela's death... So begins Johannesburg, Fiona Melrose's searing second novel. Responsive to Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, the story follows a polyphonic course across a single day, culminating in a party and traces the fractures and connections of the city, in particular, Gin's encounter with September, a homeless man who lives in the neighbourhood. An irascible mother, a daughter trying to negotiate a city and the people from her past, a homeless hunchback who takes his fight for justice to the doors of a mining company, a mining magnate, a man still haunted by his first love, and the domestic workers who serve this cast and populate the neighbourhood - these are the characters who give voice to the city on a day hot with nerves and tension. Johannesburg is a profound hymn to an extraordinary city, and a devastating personal and political manifesto on love.
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Cinfhen
Johannesburg | Fiona Melrose
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For a story that takes place in the span of 12 hours, the author managed to cover a lot of ground. While I thought the passing of Nelson Mandela would fit more heavily into the plot, it was an interesting piece of SA history to add to the tension. Using many local voices to narrate the day, Melrose expertly captures the complexity and intensity of Joburg. Great writing, ok story but would recommend and try another by this author. #BorrowNotBuy

TrishB Great review 👍🏻 6y
99 likes1 comment
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Cinfhen
Johannesburg | Fiona Melrose
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Enjoying this multi “voiced” story set in Johannesburg on the day Nelson Mandela (Tata) has died. The author is clearly a native of SA as the reader can feel every hectic, frantic hum of the country. Using this for #SetInADay #Pop19

Emilymdxn Sounds fascinating! 6y
Kalalalatja Stacked! 6y
97 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Cinfhen
Johannesburg | Fiona Melrose
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#BookMail 🎉🎉🎉Ordered this from #BookDepository because I fell for the pretty cover and the price was right☺️I‘m more excited about the bookmark 🥰 Has anyone read this author before??? This could be my #NewToYouAuthor #Booked2019 and it‘s #SetInOneDay #pop19 (yes, I‘m already tossing my planned TBR out the window😆) #MoodReader

erzascarletbookgasm I looked back and saw Shawn bailed on this a year ago😐 6y
Cinfhen Ha!!! I just saw that too!!!! @erzascarletbookgasm 😬 6y
alisiakae Never heard of this one, but that is a pretty cover! 6y
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TrishB I loved Midwinter 💕 6y
MommyWantsToReadHerBook I see she was born in South Africa but mostly lives in England. I'll be interested to hear what you think - never heard of her before today! 6y
Reviewsbylola Such a pretty book. 6y
126 likes3 stack adds6 comments
review
shawnmooney
Johannesburg | Fiona Melrose
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Bailedbailed

Bailed on page 40. Sadly, Second Novel Syndrome hobbles this, after Melrose‘s wonderful debut Midwinter last year in which the prose flowed like water and the characters leapt off the page. Here the writing does not sing and the characters refuse to dance.

saresmoore Bummer. Darn those wallflower characters. 7y
minkyb Sad to hear. 7y
50 likes2 comments
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shawnmooney
Johannesburg | Fiona Melrose
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emilyhaldi Love this quote! Also, what app do you use for your quotes?? 7y
LeahBergen 😂😂 7y
shawnmooney @emilyhaldi I used Typorama for this one but for the longer quotes I just use wordprocessing software. 7y
emilyhaldi Thanks! I love it! 7y
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shawnmooney
Johannesburg | Fiona Melrose
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HardcoverHearts
JOHANNESBURG. | FIONA. MELROSE
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Starting this Advanced Readers Copy and am a little nervous that it might be very emotional. It's a story told from differing people's perspectives in Johannesburg, South Africa on the day that former President Nelson Mandela (Tata Mandela to many) passed away. It's off to a good start! I do love that cover. If it's good, I will probably seek a physical copy for my African literature collection.

Kristy_K Excited to see your review! 7y
24 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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shawnmooney
Johannesburg | Fiona Melrose
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I literally opened this parcel 3 minutes ago. Look at this beauty: Melrose's second novel – I adored her first, Midwinter - and an homage to Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway," which I read for the 3rd time to prepare to read this, and set in (you guessed it) Joburg on the day that Nelson Mandela (my all-time hero) died. Oh my God, it's a perfect storm of a novel for yours truly! Oh, and note the resonance with Hogarth Press covers à la Vanessa Bell...

shawnmooney Lol. I've been staring at the cover for the past 10 minutes and now I almost hate it – a little too busy, and most of the graphics aren't speaking deeply to me…… It needs minimalizing. But that Hogarth Press font! Swoon... What do you think? (edited) 7y
rachaich I actually really like the cover :) 7y
Reviewsbylola Beautiful! 7y
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DeborahSmall Can't wait! Looks great 😘 7y
Hooked_on_books I agree that the cover is busy, but it's fun! I really like the swirls of color at the top and bottom. 7y
LeahBergen That's a beauty. 7y
saresmoore Yes to all of this and that cover is really spectacular! 7y
53 likes3 stack adds7 comments
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shawnmooney
Johannesburg | Fiona Melrose
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I'm not even halfway through her Baileys-Prize-long-listed debut, Midwinter, but I'm already totally stoked about this, her second novel, coming in August 2017 – "a circadian narrative, based on Virginia Woolf‘s Mrs Dalloway and set on the day Nelson Mandela died."

DeborahSmall Thanks for the heads up! Looks fantastic 8y
saresmoore WHAT. I love Mrs. Dalloway! 8y
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shawnmooney @saresmoore Me too! And Nelson Mandela is my hero! This novel sounds like it will have been written for me! 8y
saresmoore @shawnmooney Very cool! Do you have any Mandela book recommendations? 8y
saresmoore I just stumbled upon this—not biographical, but certainly sounds wonderful. 8y
shawnmooney @saresmoore I sure do! I'll link them in below… (edited) 8y
shawnmooney This one is not solely about Mandela but it is the most incredible book I've read about South Africa and certainly large parts of it are about him: 8y
saresmoore Oh, thank you! Country of My Skull sounds like a great starting point. Listening to Trevor Noah's memoir has revealed my relative ignorance of South African (recent) history. 8y
shawnmooney @saresmoore I forgot to mention that, whatever you do, do not watch the movie of Country of My Skull - it's terrible. :) 8y
saresmoore Ha! Thank you for the heads up! 8y
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