BOOK REVIEW

Trinity Risin
Fiona Snyckers
Jonathon Ball

FIONA Snyckers has got it just right. She has written a charming, sparkling novel which should be a bestseller.

Readers who enjoy Marian Keyes and her ilk, will be wonderfully surprised to find a witty and worthy South African equivalent about a young girl learning life lessons by making her own mistakes, some dire and some riotous.

Don’t be taken in by the somewhat inane blurb written on the back cover. I thought it didn’t do the book justice, and made our Trinity out to be a shallow ditzy babe, epithets she does not entirely deserve.

Trinity Luhabe is in her first year at Rhodes University. As she settles into a life of what should be studious contemplation and intellectual stimulation, she finds the fantasy she had of coasting along and meeting a handsome rich go-getter husband who will be doing a BCom, are liquefying fast.

Moral dilemmas, self-doubt and intellectual challenges come thick and fast and the reader is richly entertained, often at poor Trinity’s expense. Ex-Rhodes students will no doubt love the sense of nostalgia this book will evoke with its sense of place.

Without giving the plot away, the book covers Trinity’s first chaotic year away from home, and her experiences as she learns to rely on herself and trust her instincts and rely on her friends.

I suffered a mild case of wretchedness when I finished this enjoyable book. Just knowing I could still engage with it by writing this review buoyed me up. I hope it’s not too long before I read the next instalment or meet another heroine created by the clever Snyckers.