THE TURTLE DOVE TOLD ME is the long awaited, debut collection of poetry from emerging South African poet and artist Thandi Sliepen. The first of a trilogy spanning the years 1990 - 2010, this collection traces her return to Africa at the age of 18 in search of her roots. The journey starts in Tanzania, then overland to Cape Town, her home city, which she had last seen in 1976. Her search takes her to a stretch of coast in the Ciskei and then to Clarens in the Eastern Free State where she finally finds what she has been searching for. Art, love and the healing embrace of land.