THE SAFEST PLACE YOU KNOW

After his father’s violent death on a hot November day in the drought-stricken Free State, a young man leaves the derelict family farm with no plan, and with no way of knowing that his life will soon be changed for ever by two strangers he encounters on his journey south: a mute little girl who bears a striking resemblance to his late niece, and a troubled lawyer who detests the Cape wine estate she’s inherited from a father she despised.

Set in South Africa against the backdrop of a country in flux, The Safest Place You Know  is a powerful story, rendered in meticulously crafted, lyrical prose, about redemption and recovery, and what it means to carry the past with you.

Reception:
“It is not JM Coetzee’s Disgrace; it is a far better book than that.” Cape Times

“Winkler has in this novel, taken his position as an extremely important writer” Sunday Independent

“The Safest Place You Know has elevated Winkler into a cadre of uncommon talent.” Steven Boykey Sidley