The Typewriter’s Tale

Combining fact with fiction, novelist Michiel Heyns recreates the society around the celebrated author Henry James, as seen through the cool gaze of his typist, Frieda Wroth. Admiring of the great author, she nevertheless feels marginalised and under-valued, a mere typewriter. But when the dashing Morton Fullerton comes to visit, she finds herself at the centre of an intrigue every bit as engrossing as the novels she types every day, bringing her into conflict with the flamboyant Edith Wharton, and compromising her loyalty to her employer. Frieda tries to obey James’ dictum: “Live all you can; it’s a mistake not to.” But living, she finds, exacts a price: it takes place at the expense of other lives. Michiel Heyns is one of South Africa’s most acclaimed authors, and was until recently Professor of English at the University of Stellenbosch. He is the author of The Typewriter’s Tale, The Children’s Day, Bodies Politic and Lost Ground.