Lying Perfectly Still

A gripping story of exploitation and cultural collision...

Following the shocking death of her father, Koliwe leaves her life in Oxford behind when she travels to AIDS-ravaged Eswatini to take a job as an aid worker. But the Southern Africa she encounters is a far cry from the stories her late artist father told.

As she becomes enmeshed with Thandi, a local girl hiding a disturbing past, Koliwe feels increasingly split between her English identity and her rediscovered African roots as Xolile.

When Thandi goes missing, Koliwe's search for the truth leads her deep into the mountains, where the harsh realities of wealth and poverty, tradition and modernity, clash.

Harrowing yet richly evocative, Lying Perfectly Still, written from an insider's perspective, offers a searing exposé of the exploitation that has plagued the international development sector.

A powerful exploration of cultural identity, family secrets, and hard truths.