Quick Synopsis – The year is 1920, in a small, unnamed city in a colonial empire. Soraya Matas believes she has found the ideal job as a personal maid to the eccentric Mrs. Hattingh, whose beautiful, decaying home is not far from The Muslim Quarter where Soraya lives with her parents. As Soraya settles into her new role, she discovers that the house is alive with spirits.

While Mrs. Hattingh eagerly awaits her son’s visit from London, she offers to help Soraya stay in touch with her fiancé Nour by writing him letters on her behalf. So begins a strange weekly meeting where Soraya dictates and Mrs. Hattingh writes—a ritual that binds the two women to one another and eventually threatens the sanity of both.

Song This Reminds Me Of – Somebody’s Watching Me – Rockwell

Publication Date – Dec. 09, 2025

Bookshop Link – Cape Fever by Nadia Davids

Content Notes – This book takes place just after WWI in South Africa. There are depictions of racism, classism, sexism, segregation, war, and aslyums.

Rating – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

Review – This book knocks it out of the park for me. It has some of my favorite elements blended together. There’s the historical fiction aspect of the setting in South Africa after WWI. There’s a gothic element and the tension is just *chef’s kiss* well done. Mrs. Hattingh is such a great depiction of a white woman savior. The whole book she tries to convince Soraya that she’s helping and that she’s knows best. Soraya has experience as a housekeeper and comes highly recommended, she also knows it’s better to appear uneducated than expose how smart she it.

Soraya also has a beautiful relationship with her family and religion. I loved the depiction of her faith and that she had faith while also believing/interacting with the supernatural. The gothic elements are just presented alongside Soraya’s faith and there wasn’t any opposition or use of faith to dismiss supernatural aspects. The push pull between Soraya and Mrs. Hattingh was so good, Mrs. Hattingh wasn’t really evil, but so much a creature of her time. Mrs. Hattingh never questioned her own beliefs and it really made it easy for Soraya to navigate her house.

If you love a good quick read full of tension and excellent character development, I highly recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy, all opinions are my own.