Jennifer Skutelsky
jskutelsky@gmail.com
“If you participated in the fight against apartheid, you must read TIN CAN SHRAPNEL; Jennifer Skutelsky’s personal memoir is a sober reminder that 1994 should be viewed as a beginning rather than an end. For others committed to honouring the legacy of Nelson Mandela, this book will help you to understand why our continued efforts are simply essential. But TIN CAN SHRAPNEL has a far wider appeal, and the poignancy in one person’s situational experience, beautifully observed and described so as to place you right there, is spiced with humour and love. You will not only want to keep on reading – you will regain your belief in the realisation of universal truth.”
THEO HEFFER
"Against the grim background of bungling and brutality, acts of courage and compassion shine like jewels. Though the writing eschews sentimentality, this is a moving piece of work with universal implications. Make sure you read it. You will smile through your tears."
BEV DAVIE
"Beautifully written. A moving personal account of an awful period in South Africa during which one woman made a difference. Admirable and heart warming. Highly recommend reading this amazing book."
SANDI SHALL
"I love books that tell me something I didn't know. TIN CAN SHRAPNEL does that in spades. I had no idea of the Xenophobia that existed in South Africa in 2008. Refugees from the Congo and other African nations poured into South Africa, overwhelming the government and social agencies. Instead of throwing up her hands in despair, one compassionate women refused to look the other way and became involved, helping and befriending the displaced people.
This book puts a human face on the tragedy by focusing on individual stories of brave and resilient people who were caught up in the crisis. It is at times disturbing, but ultimately hopeful - a reminder that one person, with love, courage and persistence, can make a difference."
SANDRA CODY
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William Shakespeare reincarnates as an English Mastiff in San Francisco, and tricks a young ballerina into collaborating with him to revise his tragedies, beginning with Romeo and Juliet.
At fifteen, Liliana Mink is set to become the youngest dancer to play Juliet in the history of the San Francisco Ballet Theater. Out of her depth and rejected by company members because of her age, she makes mistakes that get her into trouble. She's unable to get through the death scene of Romeo and Juliet without incident, and three days before her sixteenth birthday, her ballet master, Grigor Vinogradov, threatens to fire her.
When Lily passes a homeless man and his colossal dog on the street, she stops to rummage in her purse for some change to give them. The dog, an English Mastiff, is William Shakespeare, and his owner none other than Romeo. She’s a kindred spirit, they tell her. She also hates the ending. All she has to do is help them change a single event in the drama. Lily declines their offer and gives them her lunch. In return, Romeo hands her a dog-eared book, and as Lily leafs through pages thin as tissue, she collapses in a doorway.
Moments later, she wakes to find herself in unfamiliar surroundings. This is not a world of only Shakespeare’s making; it’s now Lily’s too, a world of childhood terrors, forgotten nightmares and contemporary conflicts. Her choice unravels the second half of the play and turns an ancient city on its head. Without lines to guide them, Shakespeare's characters look to Lily for leadership. Pursued by an arch-rival who becomes the greatest enemy she’s ever had to face, at odds with Shakespeare himself, who disagrees with her choice and becomes a menace, Lily must save herself before she can rescue the doomed couple. And if she can’t do that, the grand city of Verona will descend into the Dark Ages.
In the remote Andean village of Colibrí, a boy discovers what appears to be the body of an angel. But in the face and wounds of the dead, winged woman, Dr. Gregory Moreno sees something even more disturbing: an uncanny resemblance to his beloved late wife that cannot be mere chance. And in American anthropologist Sophie Lawson, still more echoes of the doctor’s lost love stir…igniting the superstitions of the townspeople, and an elusive killer’s deepest desires and despair.
When Sophie vanishes, her son and Dr. Moreno must navigate the streets, politics, and mysteries of a place where tortured ghosts and strange omens exist side by side with mortals both devout and corrupt. But they may need nothing less than a miracle to save her from sacrifice at the altar of a madman’s twisted passion.
Conjuring shades of Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, or even Neil Gaiman, Grave of Hummingbirds is a mesmerizing novel of dreams and demons, beauty and blood.
KINDLE SCOUT winner and
winner of the CLARK GROSS AWARD IN THE NOVEL
at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY
published by LITTLE A
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TIN CAN SHRAPNEL is the story of one woman's journey to salvage hope from the hate and madness of horrific xenophobic attacks that broke out in cities and townships across South Africa in 2008. Reflecting the voices of a small group of men and women from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jennifer Skutelsky traces events leading to the accommodation of more than 20,000 dislocated people in refugee camps. A story of chaos and courage and missing children, it is, more than anything, a story of universal truth, and finding a way back from the end of the world.
