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LONGLISTED FOR THE 2017 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

Read this funny, sharp, delicately woven story of two women’s complicated relationship set in post-apartheid South Africa.

Hortensia and Marion are next door neighbours in a charming, bougainvillea-laden Cape Town suburb. One is black, one white. Both are successful women with impressive careers behind them. Both have recently been widowed. Both are in their eighties. And both are sworn enemies, sharing hedge and hostility pruned with zeal.

But one day an unforeseen event forces the women together. Could long-held mutual loathing transform into friendship?

Love thy neighbour? Easier said than done.

'At once historical and contemporary, The Woman Next Door is charged with beauty, precision, nuance, and hope. Yewande Omotoso is a stunning, essential voice - NoViolet Bulawayo, author of We Need New Names

‘Wit, charm and playful energy... An insightful and fascinating diptych of two women, with the history of colonialism and slavery lurking in the background’ Herald