The Blue Taxi by N.S. Köenings is a brilliant work of literary fiction. From the opening line the reader is treated to a feast of language describing with perfect accuracy and depth of detail a story of love and longing, loss and acceptance, new beginnings and dreams deferred. The tapestry of lives woven together includes Sarie, unfulfilled wife and mother, her husband, Gilbert, a small man of meager talents and grand ambitions, wise and naïve Bibi who desires visions almost as much as she does a grandchild, and Majid who lost his mind nine years ago when he lost his wife.

Drawn together by tragedy and influenced both positively and negatively by a cast of multi-layered peripheral characters, the lives of all involved will never be the same as they struggle to find their footing. Post-colonial South Africa provides the backdrop for this tale of cultures clashing and expectations shifting in N.S. Köenings’ unforgettable novel.