Angela Makholwa's The Blessed Girl shortlisted for the Comedy Women in Print Prize
Pan Macmillan South Africa is delighted to announce that Angela Makholwa’s fourth novel, The Blessed Girl, published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury, has been shortlisted for the Comedy Women in Print Prize.
The brainchild of award-winning comedian Helen Lederer, Comedy Women in Print (CWIP) launched in 2018 to celebrate and support female comedy writers and is open to novels published in the UK and Ireland.
The CWIP shortlist also includes Candice Carty-Williams’ Queenie (Orion), Jeanette Winterson’s Frankissstein (Jonathan Cape) and Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare (Quercus), alongside Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen (John Murray), Reasons to be Cheerful by Nina Stibbe (Penguin Random House) and The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman (Headline).
Judges for this award are Marian Keyes, Lolly Adefope, Pauline McLynn, Joanna Scanlan, Paula Wilcox and last year’s prize winner, Laura Steven. Keyes, who chaired the panel said: “I am absolutely delighted with our list. The range is glorious – everything from light-hearted commercial fiction to literary fiction – from established names to new talent – and it’s a demonstration of all the different ways in which women can be funny in print. It was a pleasure and very exciting to read all the submissions, and these are shortlists we are very proud of.”
Angela Makholwa said: “I’m honoured to have been shortlisted among such brilliant female comic writers. It’s affirming to finally see women’s writing being acknowledged for its diversity instead of having our writing being classified according to our gender. I hope this prize heralds a new era where we will see terms like ‘Chick Lit’ being replaced by more nuanced categorisations of our work.”
ANGELA MAKHOLWA lives and works in Johannesburg. The Blessed Girl is her fourth novel, following on from the bestselling Red Ink (2007), The 30th Candle (2009) and Black Widow Society (2013). She has a new novel scheduled for release in South Africa in November 2020.
The Blessed Girl
by Angela Makholwa
When you are accustomed to the finer things in life – designer shoes, champagne, VIP lounges, exotic holidays abroad, a luxury penthouse, expensive wheels – what independent young woman in her right mind would want to let them go?
Certainly not the beautiful, ambitious and super-streetsmart Bontle Tau, the girl who has used her good looks and winning charm all her life to get exactly what she wants. The lifestyle doesn’t come cheap, though, nor does maintaining the body that allows it (just ask Dr Heinz at the beauty clinic). Luckily, Bontle has a degree in MENcology, and there is no shortage of blessers at her penthouse door, eager to give her all the love and (financial) support she needs. Papa Jeff might be overweight and getting on a bit, and receiving some unwanted attention from the Hawks; and Teddy might not have fully come through for her on that messed-up tender business; but Mr Emmanuel, the Nigerian businessman with deep pockets and the possibility of conferring second wife status … could that be love?
Keeping all her boyfriends happy and living a fabulous life is not without its challenges. With so many people clamouring for Bontle’s attention – from her shebeen queen mother Gladys in Mamelodi, who is taking strain bringing up her teenaged brother, Golokile, on her own; to her girlfriends, Iris and Tsholo; not to mention her soon-to-be ex-husband, the ever-patient, ever-loving Ntokozo, Bontle barely has time to post on Instagram these days. Sooner or later something’s got to give …