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

The Inn at Helsvlakte

The Inn at Helsvlakte is a bewitching tale set in the Karoo-like landscape of a mythical country beset by civil war. It is played out by an incestuous group of lives that are bound by secrets and lies, betrayals and loyalties, catastrophe and love.
A young man seeking revenge joins forces with a military Captain, an innkeeper and the innkeeper’s wife, to tussle the ghosts of truth trapped in the surreal landscape of a former ambush site.

Lyricism and fine description are used to appraise the recurring and intersecting life narratives of evocative characters.

Patricia Schonstein

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

IN THE SMALL MATTER OF CONSCIENCE

29 Jul 2021

READ MY BLOG

Skyline 21^st Anniversary

Narrated by an innocent, adolescent voice, underpinned by hope, and explorative of human dignity, Skyline has been variously described by reviewers as: 'A great epic'; 'Tremendous'; 'Powerful'; and 'A magnificent book about human spirit'.

Winner: Prix du Marais 2005
Winner: The Percy FitzPatrick Award 2002
Second place: The Sunday Times Fiction Award 2001
Long-listed: The IMPAC, Dublin International Award 2002
Listed: South African Twenty-Five Must-Reads 2007