Thank the Lawd someone finally woke up to the fact that South African woman need variety in the kind of literature we consume. Sure the ‘We are Proudly African’ lit, and the occasional lesson on How to Think Like a Man may come in handy, but the chicklit (sorry, contemporary women’s literature) well has been pretty dry!

In come books like 30^th Candle by Angela Makholwa. And yes, it’s about turning the big 3-0, as a group of friends who are the same age try to navigate what’s supposed to be a turning point in their lives – to varying results.

Don’t expect it to turn your world upside down, or even rattle it, but it’s entertaining. And being based mostly in Joburg and Cape Town, it’s cool reading a story about people you probably won’t identify with, but might sound familiar, barring certain stereotypes.

I haven’t read Angie’s first book, Red Ink, but the idea of a local murder mystery certainly sounds fresh.

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