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Zoë Wicomb’s debut short story collection, You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town, won critical acclaim across the globe as well as high praise from fellow authors including Toni Morrison, J. M. Coetzee, Bharati Mukherjee, and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Then, after two novels, Wicomb returned to the genre that first brought her international acclaim.
Set mostly in the South African city of Cape Town and the Scottish city of Glasgow, this collection of short stories straddles two worlds, translating each character’s experience and life from one culture to another. With an array of expertly drawn characters, twelve tales explore a range of human relationships: marriage, friendship, family, and the fraught yet often intimate relations between those who serve and those who are served.
Full of ironic twists, ambiguities, and moments of startling insight, The One That Got Away showcases this award–winning author at the height of her ability.
Zoë Wicomb (1948–2025) was a South African writer living in Glasgow, Scotland, where she was emeritus professor at the University of Strathclyde. She is the author of Still Life, October, and Playing in the Light, all published by The New Press, as well as You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town and David’s Story. She was an inaugural winner of the Windham-Campbell Prize in fiction.