ABOUT THE BOOK

Jonathan Morgan is a psychologist and aspiring novelist. His latest work, set in the heart of Jo'burg, is about a hidden drugs cache but needs a homeless character, he decides. 'Homeless Talk' - the beggar-repellent on his dashboard - prompts him to contact the newspaper, and he finds himself running a writing workshop for the homeless.

This affiliation unleashes more than he bargains for. There's Valentine from Cameroon whose grandfather taught him how to catch mermaids; Pinky who was 8 in the 1976 riots; Gert the horse thief who never attends a meeting but whose stories make a big impression on the group; Virginia the actress with the narrow bed; Patrick the cartoonist who is forced to eat live birds; Fresew the Ethiopian chemist; Steven the ex-boxer who can change the colour of a cow; Robert who explains how to remove tattoos with condensed milk; and Sapho the much-loved poet who lives in a drain under the city and who goes missing.

Told from ever-shifting perspectives, this book is full of stories of struggle and triumph. Part detective thriller, part documentary, it is hard hitting, funny, sad and real.

Jonathan Morgan is a psychologist and novelist. He lives in South Africa.