Media Contact:

Shannon Bourne

Cranthorpe Millner Publishers

Email: Shannon.Bourne@cranthorpemillner.com

UNITED KINGDOM – A story that sticks with you long after its last page, Sheldon Baverstock takes the reader up close and personal with the indelible impact of South Africa’s political situation on three young friends and how it shaped their futures.

Capturing the essence of friendship, and set against a backdrop of conscription, child soldiers, foster homes, life-threatening illness and extraordinary circumstances, The First Canary is as shocking as it is entertaining.

Character-driven and substantive, the author uses to expert effect his understanding of the nuances of the political system under which he was born and raised, whilst also exploring the relationships we enjoy with friends and family. 

By combining his appreciation that these connections make an endless source of material for a novel, along with his accomplished and eloquent wordsmithing, Sheldon Baverstock has delivered a novel that bears all the hallmarks of a contemporary classic.

One Black Ear: Raw, Cinematic Novel Exposes Grassroots Life in Post-Apartheid South Africa

 Written by Sheldon Baverstock, a native of the country, ‘One Black Ear’ embroils readers in the lives of a family, their co-workers and friends in a small conservative South African town; a community coming to terms with life in their new, “free” land. It’s a rare look into the aftermath of Apartheid’s fierce trauma and consequences, wrapping this unique piece of history up in a fictional narrative that readers will never forget.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

United Kingdom – While Sheldon Baverstock now lives thousands of miles from his native South Africa, he remains passionately in love with the country he grew up in. In particular, the nation’s people and their turbulent history are always in his thoughts.

In his new novel, ‘One Black Ear’, Sheldon uses historical fiction to explore the journey South Africa waged in an effort to find true democracy. What were their biggest wins? What wasn’t done but should have been? Through the eyes of one South African family, readers can now explore all.

Synopsis:

Not long after the release of Nelson Mandela and the birth of the new South Africa, aging father Tom Lembruite moves to the small, conservative town of Fynberg, with his new wife, 40 years his junior. His purchase of the town’s only restaurant and investment in a nearby farm nestling in the foothills of the Drakensberg, sets in motion a chain of events that changes the lives of his children forever.

Three of the siblings have joined Tom in Fynberg and come face to face with the challenges and opportunities of this now free land. His son Dirk may have got more than he wished for whilst paternal twin sisters, Pat and Lerryn, find themselves on equal footing for the first time, since their early adolescence.

Roger, our narrator for the most part, is a well-intentioned yet ambivalent baby boomer, reflective about the challenges both black and white people face in a changing South Africa. Visiting Caracal Ridge, Dirk’s reinvented cattle farm surrounded by mountains, memories are triggered of his own experiences as a young white boy growing up in the era of apartheid. His reflections provide insight into the minds of white South Africans during this period, and some of the thoughts that many would never admit to, not even to themselves.

One of the young farm workers, Jon, wrestles with his own dilemmas presented by his country, now governed by a black majority, torn between his father’s traditional beliefs and the opportunities presented by his expanding role on the farm.

Despite its geographical remoteness from city life, the farm finds it is not immune to the legacies of a society grappling with the trauma and consequences of apartheid. As the family negotiates the traumatic twists and turns of their new lives and relationships, unexpected events occur, one even making the national dailies.

“I left South Africa just before the release of Nelson Mandela, so had to view this landmark event in world history, and the radical change that the nation then went through, from the other side of the world,” explains the author. “It’s been great to see so much progress, but it’s also thrown up hundreds of questions that have kept my mind busy for the last three decades. In this book, I explore them all through a fascinating story that mimics life on the ground.”

Continuing, “South Africa is still trying to figure out democracy, as most other nations in the world are, and I hope my story helps readers better understand not only the South Africa of today, but where it has come from and the wonderful potential this great nation holds.”

‘One Black Ear’, from Cranthorpe Millner, is available now.

About the Author: 

Born and raised in South Africa, Sheldon began writing towards the end of a long and successful career in IT. Tenures with various global companies saw him and his family set up homes in England, New Zealand and Australia where he currently resides. He has two daughters and two sons. Sheldon has had a long and enduring love for the country he was born in. His novel is to a certain extent a trip down memory lane for him, living as he has away from it for over 30 years. Also a chance to explore some of the thoughts that have lingered with him for many years about what was and was not done/contributed to make it a more democratic country by himself and his peers, the thoughts they had as things changed in their country. “One Black Ear” is his first novel and he is working on his second.

About the Publisher:

Cranthorpe Millner Publishers is relatively new, having been established in January of last year. We have a family of around 20 authors now, and our first big title was Shaun Wallace’s autobiography, Chasing the Dream, which we published last year. Our CEO, Kirsty-Ellen Smillie, is a writer herself and she works closely with all of our authors, understanding close hand how tough the publishing industry can be for new and even well-established authors. Our Chairman, David Hahn, has worked in the media industry probably for longer than he’d care to admit and he brings with him an enviable wealth of contacts in the media and an abundance of experience. It is through him that we have access to our celeb clients, which is brilliant exposure for the company and for our other authors.