Justin Cartwright's Blog

Andrew Marr: unlikely events in the corridors of power. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod

A few months ago I met an Afrikaans woman in Cape Town who told me that she knew Oscar Pistorius and his family when he was a very small boy. He was a delightful and affectionate child. She remembers clearly Oscar one night asking for help, calling her “tannie” –...

Two rakish young men bond over their unfulfilled literary ambitions

Nadine Gordimer in 1961. Photograph: Gallo Images /Alamy

Captures the absurdity of the times … Linda Grant. Photograph: Geraint Lewis/Rexv

Lawrence Osborne: dark deeds, hedonism and fine prose. Photograph: Chris Wise

A nameless man befriends a dog after moving to the beach in Daniel Galera's intriguing novel. Photograph: Alamy

Iain Banks: The Quarry, about a man dying of cancer, was written before the writer knew he was himself terminally ill. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod

As the Oscar Pistorius trial continues in Pretoria, author Justin Cartwright says it gives a disturbing insight into the divided state of post-apartheid South Africa

Mandy Rice-Davies and Christine Keeler: Reckless travels to the heart of louche early 60s London. Photograph: AP