Women are leading the way in writing uplifting fiction and non-ficiton novels that seek to inspire and empower other women, and men, to fight social injustices and inequalities.
In celebration of Women’s Month Loot has chosen ten books written by women, about women, and often for women.
What happens when you discover that the person closest to you has led a life of deception?
After the funeral of her mother Sally, Alice is approached by a man named Angus Tweedy. He claims to be her father and tells her that he served time in prison for marrying Sally bigamously. What does he hope to gain telling her this now, thirty years on? How can her adored dad Ralph not be her true father? And why did her mother betray her?
Alice knows she must uncover the truth about her mother. This decision takes her on a journey into her mother's past as she discovers a woman shaped by a truly traumatic childhood.
The Last Feather - The Selene Trilogy: Book 1 by Shameez Patel Papathanasiou
South African born Shameez Patel Papathanasiou’ s debut novel is a page-turner of threat-and-danger and hidden-world fantasy. Twenty-two-year-old Cassia's sister is dying, and she doesn't know why. Cassia wakes up in another realm to find her missing best friend, Lucas, who knows how to save her sister.
It’s just another morning. You make a cup of tea, check the news and open the front door. On your doorstep is a box. Inside the box is the exact number of years you have left to live. The same box appears on every doorstep across the world. Do you open yours?
Who's Lying Now by By Susan Lewis
You think you’re safe. You think you know your neighbours. But can you ever really know who’s telling the truth?
Jeannie Symonds seems to have it all: a high-flying career, a happy marriage and a niece she adores. Then one day, she vanishes.
Cara Jakes is a new trainee investigator determined to find out what really happened to Jeannie, she teams up with detective Andee Lawrence. Cara begins to question the residents of this close-knit community, but how can she separate the truth from the lies?
The Polish Girl by Malka Adler
Winter 1939: Danusha and her family are forced to flee their home when the Nazis invade Poland. Danusha’s mother, Anna, changes her name and secures a position as a housekeeper in a German doctor’s mansion in Kraków where Gestapo meetings are hosted in the kitchen.
All Anna ever wanted was a firstborn son. All Danusha ever wanted was a mother who would love her like a firstborn son. It is only years later, when their neighbours gather in the living room to hear Anna’s stories, that Danusha finally realises the truth about her mother. The Polish Girl is a heartbreaking and unforgettable historical novel by the author of international bestseller The Brothers of Auschwitz.
Mad Bad Love - And How The Things We Love Can Nearly Kill Us by Sara-Jayne Makwala King
On the face of it, life looks good for Sara-Jayne - a popular radio personality, a bestselling author and she recently been reunited with her long-lost father, nearly 40 years after she was given up for adoption as a baby. Best of all, she’s just found out she’s about to become a mother, with Enver, the ‘love of her life’.
But six weeks after discovering she’s pregnant, Enver relapses on heroin and disappears, leaving Sara-Jayne devastated. She checks into The Clinic, where despite the little life growing inside her, she’s realises shes never felt more alone and is forced to find a way to save herself.
Broken Porcelain - A Mental Illness Journey by Relebone Rirhandzu eAfrika
Broken Porcelain is a book of essays describing one Black woman’s experience of mental illness that shatters the walls of our hearts and guides us towards empathy – all while providing social commentary that demystifies the stigmas of mental illness.
In her singular lyrical prose, Relebone Rirhandzu eAfrika covers topics such as social media’s role in how we view depression, generational trauma, what self-care really is, taking anti-depressant medication, and finding love when you are mentally ill.
A mother from the age of 18, Kim Stephens shelved her inner journo and embraced a life of media sales and sports marketing, working with some of the biggest sports brands globally, and locally, whilst pursuing her own ultra-running ambitions.
Arguing vehemently against the possibility that she was running from her own truth, Covid-19 wiped out Kim’s possibilities for continued escape.
After three children, two divorces and a gradual sexual awakening, Kim found herself at 40-something virtually unemployed, with all the time in the world in one of the world’s most draconian Covid-19 lockdowns. Her humorous observations of middle-class South African behaviour through the various levels of lockdown encouraged her to put it all into a book.
My Journey To The Top Of The World - And The Life Lessons I Learnt Along The Way by Saray Khumalo
In this truly remarkable life story, Saray Khumalo shares her epic journey to the top of the world: Mount Everest.
From her childhood in Zambia and Zaire, to a corporate career in South Africa, through marriage and motherhood, Saray harboured one overriding ambition: to reach the summits of the world’s highest mountains - Everest. After three unsuccessful attempts, Saray became the first black African woman to summit the world’s highest peak. Her success was hard won, though – along the way, she suffered severe personal setbacks, serious health issues and life-threatening injuries.
Saray’s story redefines common perceptions about what women are capable of doing and achieving and will inspire girls and women from all walks of life.
On The Rocks - Memoir Of A High-Functioning Alcoholic by Thando Pato
Thirty-nine-year-old Thando is living in total denial about her drinking. On the surface her life looks aspirational – great job, apartment, snazzy car. But behind the façade she harbours a shameful secret – she can’t control her drinking. To the outside world she's just having fun, but alone at home, she’s knocking back a bottle or two a night to ‘unwind’. It’s not until she takes a sabbatical from booze, that she's forced to confront her crippling anxiety.
There’s never been a better time to sit back and enjoy a good book than in Women’s Month and you’re sure to find something to read on Loot.