Brian Pottinger has been a busy bee since he and his wife, Sue, settled on the North Coast a few years ago.

A nephew of the late Noel Marot of Tara Sugar Estate, he spent a while wrapping up the estate, then ‘retired’ to Brettenwood.

After a lifetime in newspapers, starting as a lowly reporter at the Daily News and ending as editor and publisher of the Sunday Times, he can’t sit still.

Over the years, he has written eight books, ranging from political histories of former presidents PW Botha and Thabo Mbeki to a deep dive into the Covid-19 vaccine hoopla, written during the frustrating depths of lockdown.

He is also vice-chairperson of Docrra, the ratepayers’ association, which keeps him on the run.

Now he has turned his hand to fiction (or ‘faction’) with a collection of 12 short stories set in KwaZulu-Natal. He describes them as based on fact but embellished and woven into charming tales: There’s the aged inkosi, battling to maintain honour and tradition in a terrifyingly changing world; the cowardly gangster who manages to impress his criminal mother entirely by mistake; and the Mauritian-born immigrant who spied for France against the British, with this last one apparently based on his mother.

In another, I recognised the story of a resident of this area who fought a lifelong battle against having his right of way to the sea cut off by a developer, which Brian has turned into a satisfying tale of revenge. The stories are all good reads, the kind of book you keep by your bedside. I can’t wait for the next collection of short stories!

With illustrations by Salt Rock artist Steve van der Schyff, the book is available from Takealot and Amazon for R260.