The Tearoom by Gretchen Haley

Uplit sprinkled with Durban flavour

Image credits to Nabihah Plaatjes

A heart-warming local tale is on the menu - just the ticket for a time of uncertainty.

This debut novel speaks to anyone in need of a reassuring message: when life doesn't go according to plan, there's nevertheless plenty to be grateful for.

There's always enough love and laughter to go round, and probably some good food too.

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In Tubby Reddy's restaurant, a plan to live happily ever after has been simmering for twenty years. Tubby (short for Thirapatheegadu Ezekiel Reddy, because heaven knows a man called Thirapatheegadu walks a lonely road) is a proud proprietor of The Tearoom in deepest KZN. He's also the long-suffering husband of Lynette, she of the hypochondria and the roving eye, and a man with a plan to run away with the love of his life.

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Tubby must pluck up the courage to confess his feelings to his kitchen assistant, whose rotis are light as a tissue in your hand and whose samoosas are parcels of pure joy. As soon as she accepts his proposition, it's London, here we come!

But just as Tubby is set to embark on his dream life, Lynette delivers a blow that may turn his scheme to ashes.

Sprinkled with delicious humour and spoonfuls of local flavour, The Tearoom is a warm tale about that which matters most. 

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Gretchen Haley writes novels and shorts stories. She has also written, co-written and performed social commentaries and industrial theatre plays. She lives in Johannesburg with her husband and three children.