Thrown Among the Bones is my memoir. It illustrates how my own life, together with the fictitious worlds I’ve fabricated, correspond with each other, acting as mirrors, allowing deconstruction and reconstruction of real events, in order to fathom the complex arena into which I was born.

The Monthlies Blog
May 21, 2008

Thrown Among the Bones

“Patricia Schonstein seems to traverse, with ease and humour, the precarious and delightful twilight pathways between reality and imagination.”

~ Erika Coetzee

My Life in Fiction

“Life—battered, brutal, beautiful and magical—fills the pages of her books.”

~ Alex Smith

“Patricia Schonstein’s acclaimed work is drenched in sensory delights, replete with complex characters and sublime settings. She contrasts heartfelt philosophical concerns with embroideries of life and art at its most luscious, in an unexpected balance of decadence and social concern.”

BooksLive, 2011

~ Carmen Clegg

Daily Maverick, 2022

The Inn at Helsvlakte is my newly-published seventh novel. I conceptualised it on the Etosha Pan in Namibia and wrote first notes at Roy’s Camp. I spent almost ten years working on its forbidding but beautiful landscape, to appraise the recurring and intersecting life narratives of characters who demanded that I grant them life.

South African Country Life
April 2020

The Inn at

Helsvlakte

“Schonstein’s writing
style is a beguiling mix of
lyrical, sensual
description and shocking
human behaviour. A
visual banquet from
cover to close.”

~ Nancy Richards

“A literary masterpiece”

Former Head Librarian,
Jacob Gitlin Library

~ Dr Ute Ben Yosef

“Intensly satisfying and
beautifully crafted.”

~ Sue Grant-Marshall

Radio Today

“Schonstein is a highly
visual and visceral writer.
Redemption is one of
her heartfelt concerns.
Empathy is one of the
hallmarks of
her character.”

~ Lucinda Jolly

Maverick Life

A vibrant novel set in contemporary times in a run-down block of ﬂats in Long Street, central Cape Town.

Skyline

“A great epic.
The characters live like
lighted candles.”

~ Expressen (the Express) Sweden

“Skyline is an entrancing,
wonderful book with
an amazing richness
of metaphor.”

Vista Nova

~ Glyn Hewson

“This book is a delight.”

~ Betty Welz

Citizen

“A magniﬁcent book about
human spirit.”

~ The Cape Times

Ways of Living: Some Gathered Insights

Life is fragile, like ancient Egyptian faience. We tend to live as though it is commonplace, but it is not. My new publication, titled ‘Ways of Living’, is a mappa vivendi, a collection of insights and wisdoms that have glittered my earthly sojourn. These wisdoms were shared by friends and strangers alike, sometimes randomly, sometimes purposefully, always with deep effect.

Patricia Schonstein

A novelist, poet, author of children’s books and curator of anthologies.

Red and White

15 January 2025

READ MY BLOG

Thrown Among the Bones

Thrown Among the Bones, my memoir, reveals how my own life configures with the scaffolding of my fictions. It shows how characters take up roles both archetypal and simple to tackle existential questions; and how urban landscapes and wilderness serve as the neon-spangled theatres of my story telling.

Skyline 25^th Anniversary

Skyline’s 25^th anniversary is celebrated as the Russia-Ukraine War and the Israel-Gaza War continue to blaze. This novel, dedicated to child victims of war, takes an unflinching view of the emotional carnage caused by conflict, giving face and voice to those whose innocence and right-to-life is destroyed by it. Skyline is narrated by an adolescent voice. It tackles Cape Town’s violent criminal underbelly, alongside the relentless migrations of people fleeing Africa’s wars and economic ruin.

It is explorative of human dignity and compassion. Underpinned by hope, it is a reminder of all the good that can be mined from the human heart. If you have never looked into the eyes of a refugee or migrant, this book illustrates that you will discover something about yourself when you do. Numerous high schools use Skyline as a setwork to instil compassion and understanding for others, and to find their own courage and self-worth in our turbulent world.

Skyline has been variously described by reviewers as: ‘A great epic’; ‘Tremendous’; ‘Powerful’; and ‘A magnificent book about human spirit’