For the longest time, our home defined who I was. The moods of the Kalahari ... the river of my being rising and dwindling, yet always finely in tune with the undertow, the ebb and flow of the desert.' So writes Emma, daughter of Deirdre and Alf Johannsen. Captivated by the remoteness and beauty of the Kalahari Desert after a chance visit in 1884, Emma's father makes the decision to leave his home in Europe and return to settle in Africa. On his journey back, he meets the woman who will become his wife. Together they take on the challenge of making their home in the vast desert wilderness. During the first fourteen years of her life, Emma develops her father's passion for the Kalahari and the singular people who become part of their lives. The desert and its creatures fulfil her; she is at ease. But when a profound and tragic difference arises between her parents, her serenity is shattered, her life disrupted. Tsamma Season is a moving, beautifully written novel of passionate love and the loss of love; of challenge and betrayal. Most of all it is about the Kalahari - its moods, its limitless horizons and rugged beauty. But the desert deals harshly with those who have the courage to live on its terms: ultimately, it is uncompromising and unforgiving ... and this is something that Emma has no power to change.

Growing up in Cape Town as the only child of orthodox Jews who escaped the Holocaust, Jen rebels against the religious beliefs and superstitions her parents impose on her. Her aim in life is simply to have fun. But she quickly finds she can escape neither her heritage nor the consequences of her choices. Jen's life is overshadowed by the dybbuk - the malign force that she believes robs her of what she holds most dear. Her twin daughters, feisty and individual, are every bit as rebellious as she was. Burdened with the shifting sands of their home, the sisters are propelled inexorably towards the breakdown of all they have shared and deeply loved. Beautifully crafted and unpredictable, this captivating novel leaves long echoes, drawing readers into the undergrowth of family, the ambiguities of parental love and the ageless power of superstition, which binds even those who scorn it.