'Confessions of a Gambler' Rayda Jacobs

Confessions of a Gambler centres, almost incongruously, around a Muslim woman in Cape Town, South Africa, who develops a compulsive gambling problem. Her name is Abeeda Ariefdin, or Beeda to her friends and family, and she is, in no particular order, a faithful Muslim, mother to four sons, the ex-wife of a cheating ex-husband, a sister, daughter, neighbour, employer and friend to some of the most delightful characters ever to wend their way into a novel. Rayda Jacobs taps so deeply into the South African psyche in this book, and tackles so many of the taboos inherent within southern African society, that it leaves one almost breathless.