As you know, we’re always introducing something new on ECR Life and this one’s especially for all our book lovers on the east coast! Introducing our very own bookworm…

Waleska Saltori*, like many of us on the east coast, loves reading and she’ll be sharing her thoughts with us on various new publications! Feel free to jump in and add your thoughts as well. We’d love to know what you thought of the author/book. And if you like to recommend any books and authors, by all means, feel free!

Small Moving Parts by Sally-Ann Murray (2009)

Recently shortlisted for the Sunday Times Literary Awards for 2010, Small Moving Parts is a powerful read, sure to keep you playing with language long after you’ve read the last page. Murray’s tale of a small family of three living in 1960s Durban is also sure to arouse conflicting emotions in the novel’s readers, many who might recognise the psychological and physical landscape of the narrative.

The novel centres on Halley Murphy, a smart, young girl growing up in council flats in the `poor white’ area near Durban’s dockyards. The plot is broken up into short sections, each dealing with incidents occurring in Halley’s daily life. These sections also explore the experiences of Halley’s determined and pragmatic mother, Nora, her headstrong and rebellious sister, Jen, as well as a host of neighbours, all with their own stories and conflicts.

Halley’s world is one of observations – details, words and parts of words, the making and un-making of meaning are all part of the way she makes sense of the happenings around her. And, there is plenty of material to engage Halley’s imagination, for the events of an `ordinary’ upbringing in a working-class, single-parent family can be anything but ordinary at times.

Some of Halley’s encounters are shocking, some are funny, and some are almost too painful for the words she uses to express them. And, throughout, the reader encounters Durban – not as a backdrop, but as a central character, reflecting and shaping Halley’s experiences, from the historical to the mundane.

The Durban reader, in particular, will find much to recognise and reminisce over in the ‘old’ Durban of the novel, from the Cuban Hat to the crumbling children’s hospital. With Murray’s flawless prose, Small Moving Parts is skilfully and beautifully written and is a delight for any lover of language. Above all, however, it is a tale of the hard times and the small triumphs of one struggling family.

*Waleska Saltori has a Masters degree in English Studies from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. A freelance editor and copywriter, she specialises in corporate copy and communications. A bibliophile from a young age, she reads anything that comes her way but prefers good novels and has a soft spot for historical fiction. She can be contacted for copywriting projects on waleska@pensa.co.za