Remember how we all fell in love with the new space that Kalk Bay Books had moved into recently? The moment I walked in, I imagined how I would sit there by the fire in winter and browse the beautiful book selection that Audrey Rademeyer, the bookshop’s owner, has always ready for her readers.

Yesterday, Audrey sent out a moving letter to the readers of Kalk Bay Books: “Stranger than Fiction”. The message was simple: we love books, cannot imagine our lives without them, none of us knows what the future will bring, but end-of-the-month bills are ruthless, especially for booksellers during a pandemic and nationwide lockdown, please help.

“If you can afford a contribution, no matter how small, I would be very, very grateful,” Audrey wrote. Here are the details:

KALK BAY BOOKS, ABSA account no.: 4066190136, branch code: 421109.

The plea came with a promise: “We’ll open the shop for sales as soon as we’re allowed to.” Winter is nearly upon us and that gentle fire in the fireplace will be waiting for us in Kalk Bay Books. Until then, let the memories of this wonderful independent bookshop keep us warm.

Kalk Bay Books was one of the venues at which we launched Dawn Garisch’s Breaking Milk. Dawn, a writer and a medical doctor, is a resident of Kalk Bay.

From top left clockwise: John Maytham performing Finuala Dowling’s script “Being Human”. One of the best interviews I have ever heard at Kalk Bay Books: Leonie Joubert speaking to Helen Moffett about the water crisis and beyond. I interviewed Suzan Hackney at the launch of her memoir; one of the most difficult, but deeply moving, interviews for me (I had the honour quite a few times at Kalk Bay Books – thank you!). Ann Donald interviewing me at the launch of The Fifth Mrs Brink. This is just a handful of hundreds of heart-warming literary memories…

For the launch of The Fifth Mrs Brink at Kalk Bay Books, Verushka Louw baked a cake for me.

By donating to Kalk Bay Books, I wish to convey the exact same message back to the bookshop we all love and hope to see reopen as soon as safely possible.

That day, when the bookshops can safely reopen again, will be a day readers across of South Africa will celebrate. Let’s make sure that all the bookshops survive beyond the pandemic…