I’ve recently finished reading Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose (8) by Sandy Balfour. It’s a mix of autobiography, travelogue and crossword guide, and I highly recommend it. It’s a life-affirming story of the author’s global travels and in particular his quest to find a national identity after leaving South Africa.

If you’re interested in crosswords (and in particular the Guardian crossword), it also provides a simple introduction to the subject, covering both Balfour’s belief in the stories contained in crossword puzzles and the basics of solving them. It also lifts the veil on some of the setters with the enigmatic names.