It is 1820 in the Cape Colony. Sophia Truter is married to Judge Johannes Truter, now Sir John. Sophia has a distaste for the Cape’s theatrical airs. She decides, after the death of her youngest son, to return to farming, this time on a small plot of land on the other side of the Kleinrivier – without enslaved people or foremen – and there she meets Mandel, a freeloader, Sterretjie, who sets up a tent near Gansgat, a farmer’s wife from Akkedisberg, and collects malgas feathers and guano. Then someone is murdered on the mountain pass across the mountain, and Jan Tesselaar, the new field cornet, must track down the killer. Twyfelbos is a compelling historical novel set in the Overberg during the early 1800s. It is well-researched and written by a fine stylist.

François Loots was born in Prieska and grew up in the Karoo. After school, he studied psychology, English, and German. He works in rural development and education in South Africa and abroad. He currently lives in Cape Town and works in the media.