Penguin Random House to publish latest novel by Marita van der Vyver

This entry was posted on 02 February 2016.

Penguin Random House will be publishing Marita van der Vyver’s next novel in Afrikaans and English. TitledMisverstand in Afrikaans, the story is set over a few days in Paris, where a failed South African writer finds himself in the company of a young au pair during the terrorist attacks of 13 November 2015.

Van der Vyver caused a literary sensation in 1992 with her bestselling debut novel Griet skryf ’n sprokie (published in English as Entertaining Angels). The book won the M-Net, ATKV and Eugène Marais prizes, and has since been translated into more than ten languages, including Icelandic and Chinese, firsts for an Afrikaans novel.

To date she has published 22 books in Afrikaans, including youth and children’s books, collections of short stories, columns and sketches, as well as two cookbooks. Much of Van der Vyver’s work has been translated into other languages and she has produced numerous bestsellers, among them her most recent novel,Die blou van onthou (translated as Forget-Me-Not Blues), which was awarded Huisgenoot’s Tempo Award for Book of the Year in 2013. Van der Vyver also wrote the prize-winning youth novel Die ongelooflike avonture van Hanna Hoekom, which was turned into a film in 2010.

Van der Vyver on her new novel: “It’s a story full of pitch-black humor and irony about a man who writes erotica under pseudonyms and who can’t deal with his own mediocrity any more. He’s trying to find an original way to end his life in Paris, but then he almost becomes a victim of a terrorist attack – which sends his weekend in Paris in a completely unexpected direction.”

Fourie Botha, publisher of local fiction at Penguin Random House, says: “Marita van der Vyver has over many years made thousands of readers laugh and cry, and few writers in South Africa and abroad can boast such a successful writing career. It is an honour for us to be involved in her next book.”

For more information, contact Ryno Posthumus: RPosthumus@penguinrandomhouse.co.za / 011 327-3550 or visit www.maritavandervyver.info. Photo by Willem Lourens for Sarie.

 

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