Being better known abroad than at home is, for Damon Galgut, part of the lot of being a South African writer. The 42-year-old novelist has made his name most of all in the UK since his last book, The Good Doctor, was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize three years ago. Only that success has enabled him, at least for now, to make a living from his writing.

“I think, generally speaking, there’s more value placed on books and writing in the UK than here,” he says. Readership in South Africa is still mostly among the minority white middle class, and mostly female. “Literature with really serious intentions is doomed to sell very few copies here.”