From South Africa to Iceland, rural Belgium and the Alps, the stories in Mad Honey radiate out to encompass the globe. In Cape Town, a couple raise their son in leafy suburbia, while their cleaner’s child must face the inequities of their country head on. Amid Reykjavik’s frozen landscape, a woman takes mad honey with the man who has left her for another, and spends a chilling night with a violent Russian and his companion. And in New England two lovers face the cruelty of a host who lacks all humanity, while a mother takes pity on a street child she finds on a platform at Park Station. Crowning this collection is a story cycle featuring a young Namibian and his Japanese friend, who spend a claustrophobic night in a chateau with a dark pool of glowing eels – this after being pulled into a tragedy on the ski slopes of Italy. Following on from his multi award-winning first collection, published in English as The Alphabet of Birds, SJ Naudé’s second collection of short stories disturbs, surprises and enthrals.