Features Africa Scene: Shadow City by Natalie Conyer

Africa Scene: Shadow City by Natalie Conyer

Natalie Conyer grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, but has lived in Sydney for many years. Her first novel, Present Tense, introducing Detective Schalk Lourens of the South African Police Service, won Australia’s Ned Kelly Award for a debut novel, was shortlisted for the Davitt Awards, and voted one of the best reads of the year by The Australian newspaper. Quite an achievement for a book set in South Africa!

The sequel, Shadow City, came out last year to rave reviews. Detective Jackie Rose in Sydney investigates the brutal murder of a girl, who turns out to be from South Africa. Schalk comes to Sydney to visit his daughter, but is soon involved in the case and he and Jackie make a formidable team.

The backstory of Shadow City is human trafficking from South Africa to Australia. Australia seems a surprising destination for such trade. How did you find out about this slave trade and how did you research it?

I didn’t set out to write about slavery exactly: when I started Shadow City all I had in mind was an image of a dead girl in a food court in Sydney’s Chinatown. I didn’t know who she was or how she got there, but as I explored the image I thought she might have escaped from somewhere, and that led me to consider slavery. I knew nothing about slavery and had to do quite a lot of research. I enrolled in a course, and I got a lot of help from Anti-Slavery Australia, a centre in UTS’ Law School.

What I learned about slavery, both in Australia and across the world, shocked me, and made me want to bring it to public attention. It also presented an interesting challenge: to write a crime novel that was exciting and entertaining without either downplaying the issue or making it ‘worthy’ and depressing. I hope I succeeded!

Cape Town Central Police Station

Jackie follows up a number of clues, but they need help from the South African police in order to make progress. Schalk Lourens is the bridge. He has the right contacts, but he’s unofficial to both sides. Did you toss Schalk onto his own devices in this way to add stress, but also to allow him to work on the edge of what’s legal in each country?

Schalk Lourens (Schalk is pronounced skulk) is the protagonist of my first novel, Present Tense, which is set in Cape Town. I wanted to write about Schalk again, but because of Covid and life in general, I hadn’t been to Cape Town for a few years. South Africa is a very dynamic country and I felt I’d lost touch with what was happening there and couldn’t write about it without having visited it again first. So Schalk had to come to Sydney. And once I’d got that straight, other opportunities presented themselves: for example, I could open the story up to include Schalk’s team in Cape Town and give the story an international edge. I could also show Schalk discovering a new city. The fact that he’s an outsider in Sydney does mean he can be a bit of a maverick. And yes, his presence, and his situation, add layers of stress to the story.

House similar to Schalks in Cape Town

Schalk’s visit to Australia seems to go very well. Yet he is deeply torn between his opportunity to move to a new country with a multitude of advantages and his love for the Cape. This internal struggle and the dichotomy of the countries adds to the tension in the novel. Was this one of your aims when spreading the plot between South Africa and Australia?

I’m glad you picked that up. Exploring the idea of ‘home’, and where people belong, was a strong aim in writing this story. I’ve experienced the pull of two countries myself. Although I’ve lived in Australia for many years and love it, Cape Town, where I grew up, is also vitally important to me. Schalk’s struggle to decide where he belongs is a main thread in the story, and the idea of home a recurring motif.

Mrs. Sunshine is a scary villain. Completely amoral, money driven, and violent. Where did she come from?

Mrs. Sunshine scares even me! At first I had a hard time getting to grips with her. I didn’t want a cartoon villain; I wanted a real person, one who has reasons to be as bad as she is. So I had to find out what made her tick.
When I want to find out more about a character I try writing in the voice of that character. It sounds crazy, but if you write fast and let yourself go, sometimes the character will reveal themselves. And that’s what happened. Mrs. Sunshine began to tell me about her past, and why she is as she is, and then she started to make sense to me.

Are you planning another Schalk Lourens thriller? If so, would you tell us something about it?

My next book, Finding the Bones, is done and being edited and will be published in 2025. It’s set in Sydney and focuses on Jackie Rose. The one after that, the one I’m gearing up to write now, is about Schalk. It’s set in Cape Town and I’m going back there in March to do some research. It starts with Schalk being pretty satisfied with his life. Then he’s asked to babysit two visiting Americans and … that’s not a cliffhanger, by the way; it’s because I’m a pantser. I write by the seat of my pants and honestly, I don’t yet know what’s going to happen after that. I can’t wait to find out!

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