Exclusive: Sally Partridge discusses her highly-anticipated fifth novel

By Mila de Villiers

The highly-anticipated fifth novel by award-winning local young adult author, Sally Partridge, is scheduled to hit shelves just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Mine is the roller coaster love story of Finley September and Kayla Murphy, two teenagers trying to make sense of their lives in the mother city. In each other they find that all-for-nothing love they’ve been searching for – but also a sense of belonging. Until the ghosts from their past emerge to try and break them apart.

Cape Town novelist Sally Partridge is a three-time winner of the M. E. R. Prize for Best Youth Novel and has been honoured by IBBY International for her young adult fiction. In 2011, she was named one of Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans, awarded annually to notable South Africans under the age of 35.

Mine is Partridge’s fifth novel for young adults.

The whimsical illustrated cover is reminiscent of international contemporary YA titles by authors like Rainbow Rowell and Nina LaCour and was designed by Cape Town-based illustrator Astrid Blumer.

Sally Partridge, author of Mine. © Warren Rasmussen

Not only does Blumer’s illustration succeed in bringing Fin and Kayla to life, but also cleverly highlights the comic book and music references featured throughout the contemporary novel.


Mine will be available from all major retailers from 10 February 2018.


Here Partridge discusses female empowerment, why music and writing go hand in hand, the challenges she faced with writing a love story (it has to have some love in it!) and how she succeeds in creating authentic teenage characters:

In your acknowledgements you mention that the idea for the story first came to you when you had a scene in your head of a “girl with blue hair barreling down Buitenkant Street on her skateboard”, envisioning it as a teen superhero novel. Why did you abandon the superhero angle, turning it into a “crazy love story”?

The superhero angle relied heavily on a pair of siblings being central to the plot. I outlined the plot to a writer friend, who felt that siblings weren’t the right fit for the story, especially if it was going to be a series. It needed a love interest. This made total sense. And then the more I wrote, the more it became clear that this had to be a love story and not a superhero story at all. All the drama surrounding relationships completely took over. The book was always going to be about that original blue-haired girl feeling disempowered and finding her confidence. Only now it was more real. Her disempowerment came from being the outsider at a new school, where her desperate need for acceptance becomes a vulnerability the boys in her year are only too eager to take advantage of. Kayla finds her power, but it’s a power we all have to discover at some point, when the rose-tinted glasses we wear shatter after wave after wave of disappointment.

Although it isn’t a superhero novel, elements of the superhero genre are present: Kayla is a big fan of comic books and Fin is a Norse mythology aficionado. These interests aren’t exactly accepted/understood among their peers (people find it unusual that Kayla – as a teenage girl – is into comics and not many of Fin’s friends have heard of Thor the Norse God as opposed to Thor “the Avengers dude with a hammer”.) Could you expand on their predilection for these mythical/conceived gods/heroes, and – in doing so – how they defy stereotypes?

I love writing about antiheroes. Whether they’re geeks, goths or teens looking for trouble. Anyone who’s been to FanCon (run by Reader’s Den) will realise quite quickly that comics aren’t just for guys. Both DC and Marvel are writing incredible titles with all-female casts, and even local authors like Lauren Beukes, are writing comics. Saying comics aren’t for girls is like saying books aren’t for girls. It’s silly. Kayla is your average pop-culture fan – she loves Rick and Morty and comics and wears her geeky predilections like an armour – which reflects in her sense of humour. As for Fin, many people find strength in their spirituality, and he draws his courage from the strong gods in Norse mythology. He crafts a stage persona after Thor, the god of Thunder – and by slipping into this persona he’s able to do things he normally wouldn’t be comfortable doing – like going on stage in front of thousands of people.

Music features prominently in your novel (Kayla is a classical flautist and operaphile, whereas Fin is a member of a rap band.) What does music a) mean to you? and b) to Kayla and Fin? Do you listen to similar genres as the protagonists? And what’s it like writing rap lyrics? 

Music is central to my creativity. It sets the mood, keeps me going. So really, writing and music go hand in hand.
As for Kayla being an operaphile….

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