In *Fathers and Fugitives*, SJ Naudé crafts a powerful meditation on memory, estrangement, and the lingering shadows of apartheid. The novel follows Daniel, a South African expatriate journalist, who returns home to care for his dying father—only to uncover deeply buried family secrets that force him to confront his own fractured identity.
Naudé’s prose is lyrical and restrained, capturing emotional distance with precision. Through a fragmented narrative spanning continents and generations, the novel examines the burden of history, the complexities of whiteness, and the search for belonging.
Both intimate and politically resonant, Fathers and Fugitives is a compelling and thought-provoking work that deepens the conversation around South African identity in a globalized world.

A difficult book to summarise… it’s consistently well written and I never stopped being intrigued by the direction of the story and the growth of the central character. But for such a short book it often felt aimless in a way that didn’t always feel like it added necessary context. I feel like I either wish it was longer to fill out some of these meandering trains of thought or shorter to trim some out. Ultimately the heart of the book is beautiful, if unsettling, a spectre hanging over the proceedings that leaves you sure of impending misfortune but always compelled to find out just how it manifests