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The Peculiars
Phobias abound at the Centre for Improved Living, where Nazma goes for help. She’s crazy about baking and desperately wants to become a pastry chef, but her fear of driving keeps her stuck working in a train-station kiosk, where she sells stale food to commuters while dreaming of butter croissants and fresh strudel.
The Centre is also a lifeline for Sam, who is scared to death of being robbed and spends his days in his pyjamas in front of his computer, his house alarm always armed.
Like the rest of the patients, Nazma and Sam want to face their fears, but will four weeks at the Centre be enough to change their lives? And will the two allow their budding romance to bloom without letting their phobias get in the way?
Meanwhile, the Centre risks losing its funding, a fear that Ruby, the Centre’s eccentric director, must face while she tries to manage the patients’ fears.
Set in a Cape Town as peculiar as its characters, 'The Peculiars' is Jen Thorpe’s heart-warming and humorous debut.
The Centre is also a lifeline for Sam, who is scared to death of being robbed and spends his days in his pyjamas in front of his computer, his house alarm always armed.
Like the rest of the patients, Nazma and Sam want to face their fears, but will four weeks at the Centre be enough to change their lives? And will the two allow their budding romance to bloom without letting their phobias get in the way?
Meanwhile, the Centre risks losing its funding, a fear that Ruby, the Centre’s eccentric director, must face while she tries to manage the patients’ fears.
Set in a Cape Town as peculiar as its characters, 'The Peculiars' is Jen Thorpe’s heart-warming and humorous debut.
248 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2016
1 person is currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Jen Thorpe
10 books21 followersJen Thorpe is a feminist writer and researcher based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Her latest book, Adulting 101: How to Survive the Real World, was published by Kwela in 2022.
Her first novel, The Peculiars (2016), was long listed for the Etisalat Prize for Literature (2016) and the Sunday Times Fiction Prize (2017). Her second novel, The Fall, was published in July 2020.
Thorpe has edited three collections of feminist essays – My First Time: Stories of Sex and Sexuality from Women Like You (2012); Feminism Is: South Africans Speak Their Truth (2018) and Living While Feminist (2020).
Her latest book, Adulting 101: How to Survive the Real World, was published by Kwela in 2022.
Her first novel, The Peculiars (2016), was long listed for the Etisalat Prize for Literature (2016) and the Sunday Times Fiction Prize (2017). Her second novel, The Fall, was published in July 2020.
Thorpe has edited three collections of feminist essays – My First Time: Stories of Sex and Sexuality from Women Like You (2012); Feminism Is: South Africans Speak Their Truth (2018) and Living While Feminist (2020).
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 13, 2019
This is such a clever, quirky and entertaining read!
Jen Thorpe wrote some extremely real characters with a lot of real problems, problems that we each face in our lives on a daily basis.
Grab a cup of hot chocolate, a couple of snacks and snuggle down for a meander around the streets of Cape Town.
Highly recommended
Find my full review here.
Jen Thorpe wrote some extremely real characters with a lot of real problems, problems that we each face in our lives on a daily basis.
Grab a cup of hot chocolate, a couple of snacks and snuggle down for a meander around the streets of Cape Town.
Highly recommended
Find my full review here.
February 3, 2019
Absolutely brilliant. A light read which was highly relatable!
December 11, 2024
Jen writes beautifully.
February 23, 2017
The Peculiars is the story of a group of people who are doing a short session of counseling to address their phobias. It is narrated by three of the people in alternating chapters. There’s Ruby the counselor who runs the program and perhaps needs some counseling for her own insecurities. There’s Nazma whose afraid of driving, a skill she needs if she’s ever going to pursue her dreams. Then there is Sam, a handsome man who attracts the interest of both women at first, whose fear of being robbed in increasingly controlling his life.
I was drawn by the title, I thought it suggested a bit of a caper, a bit of wit. There’s no such thing. This book is all too serious about following the program. That is, if the new minister who Ruby publicly chastised for corruption does not take away their funding.
This book was disappointing. I expected some wit and joy and there was very little. It was too literally following the program. Thorpe did not seem to know what book she wanted to write, a romance, a book about self-discovery, a book about petty bureaucratic squabbles. There’s also just a bit of a too-ridiculous end. It’s not hateful, perhaps if I had a phobia, I might get inspired to try to treat it from this book, it is hopeful in that way. Otherwise, it’s not really of much merit.
http://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpres...
I was drawn by the title, I thought it suggested a bit of a caper, a bit of wit. There’s no such thing. This book is all too serious about following the program. That is, if the new minister who Ruby publicly chastised for corruption does not take away their funding.
This book was disappointing. I expected some wit and joy and there was very little. It was too literally following the program. Thorpe did not seem to know what book she wanted to write, a romance, a book about self-discovery, a book about petty bureaucratic squabbles. There’s also just a bit of a too-ridiculous end. It’s not hateful, perhaps if I had a phobia, I might get inspired to try to treat it from this book, it is hopeful in that way. Otherwise, it’s not really of much merit.
http://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpres...
May 8, 2016
I really enjoyed this book. I think it could of been a little longer and slightly more detailed, I did feel that some parts were glossed over but considering I read it in two days... It was an enjoyable read and I look forward to seeing what comes next.
October 9, 2016
I loved this book. A little quirky, but an easy read. Think it could have been a little longer and perhaps gone into a little more detail re the other participants. A good, quick read
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews