The Eye of the Beholder, the highly anticipated new book by Margie Orford, is out in August 2022 from Jonathan Ball Publishers!

When an art expert goes missing, three women fighting to regain control of their lives realise their future is about to become as dangerous as their past in this brutally compelling thriller …

Set between the scorched red soil of South Africa, the pitiless snowfields of Canada and the chilly lochsides of western Scotland, each woman must contend with the spectres of male violence, sexual abuse and the choices we each make to keep our souls.

Margie Orford is an award-winning journalist who has been dubbed the Queen of South African Crime Fiction. Her Clare Hart crime novels have been translated into 10 languages and are being developed into a television series. She was born in London and grew up in Namibia. A Fulbright Scholar, she was educated in South Africa and the United States, has a doctorate in creative writing from the University of East Anglia and is an honorary fellow of St Hugh’s College, Oxford. She is president Emerita of PEN South Africa and was the patron of Rape Crisis Cape Town while she lived in South Africa. She now lives in London.

About the book

When danger lies in the eye of the beholder, what happens when you reject its pull?

Cora carries secrets her daughter can’t know.

Freya is frightened by what her mother leaves unsaid.

Angel will only bury the past if it means putting her abusers into the ground.

One act of violence sets the three women on a collision course, each desperate to find the truth.

Praise:

‘A tale of love and abuse that is as powerful as it is elegant – and it grips like a vice, too.’ – Ian Rankin

‘Subtle, chilling to the bone and very contemporary. Margie Orford has a quietly understated, beautiful literary style.’ – Peter James

‘Orford truly understands the transformative power of violence for those who survive it and those who visit it upon others. It gives her writing visceral power.’ – Damian Barr 

‘The acclaimed ‘Queen of Crime fiction’ in South Africa takes a further step into the dark. The result is as compelling as it is frightening and deeply thought provoking. The Eye of the Beholder is sure to play a key role in the ongoing debate about what women and men are, and can be, for each other in these violent times.’ – Jacqueline Rose 

‘Utterly brilliant. Gorgeous, unflinching and a total surprise.’ – Fiammetta Rocco 

Categories Fiction International South Africa

Tags Jonathan Ball Publishers Margie Orford New books New releases The Eye of the Beholder