David Farrell's Blog

Was a real doozy to write.

This nonfiction work presents experiences at an all-boys boarding school, highlighting leadership parallels.

Considering Boarding School Syndrome: Abandonment, Bereavement, Captivity, and Dissociation and the hidden “3 Es” of leadership: Empire, Entitlement, and Elitism.

Thank you to everyone who submitted their boarding school and leadership stories.

Social media always fascinates me.
More so of late with the furore of artificial intelligence, or AI, as people now call it.
Or more to the point, how it refers to itself.
Like everything in life, without trust there can be no future.
The social networking services that do not determine truth from fiction are already in decline.
Without people, what is the point of AI?

Self-proclaimed leadership is the same.

In writing my latest book on leadership, I have spoken and worked with many who consider themselves leaders.
Most of them also relate to AI because it removes the human element.
Just as they have done whilst sheltering behind their leadership label.
Most boast of their success in profits, investment returns, improved processes, and technology.
This book delves into this predicament and its link to academic institutions.
All create a manifestation of dissociation from what matters: people.

It’s fascinating, daunting, funny, frustrating, engaging, and above all rewarding - for the soul.
I refuse to be a writer where I view the industry as the problem. That I am deserving of success and artistic recognition without putting in the hard yards. The writing world owes me nothing.
Choosing to be an author. I understand that this business involves risks, and success requires effort, time, and money. Success is being involved in all aspects of the industry, from writing to editing, marketing, and the rest.
For the price of a coffee, readers buy my work and just maybe leave a review or star rating.

Thank you all for your support in purchasing My African Rose. The third and last novel in The Wilde Collection. If I can bother those who have read it for a few minutes of their time to leave a star rating and / or a review. Much appreciated.
Christmas hols are on their way.

David Farrell

The world is going through another of her transitions, just like those we have witnessed before. Not something new or more evil than past growth spurts.
The universe carries on.
It’s our responsibility to create our own path towards our goals.
Time does not wait; nor are we owed anything. - Rorke Wilde (My African Rose)

We make of it as we will.

Never give up.

That is why we are here.

My African Rose

David Farrell’s My African Rose is the third instalment in The Wilde Collection, yet it stands strongly on its own as both a love story and a chronicle of post-apartheid South Africa. Set against the turbulence of the mid-1990s, the novel weaves personal romance and national history into an intimate portrait of resilience, identity, and survival.

At the heart of the book are Rorke and Rose Wilde, newlyweds who leave behind their corporate careers to purchase and run Cobblers Bar and Grill, a tavern in a mining town south of Johannesburg. The couple’s venture into entrepreneurship is far from idyllic. Their new business quickly becomes a microcosm of the fractured society around them, where minor slights erupt into violence and underlying tensions of race, gender, and belief expose the raw edges of a country still finding its way after apartheid. Farrell handles these shifts with sensitivity, ensuring the wider political backdrop never overshadows the intimacy of his characters’ lives.

Thematically, My African Rose grapples with questions of love, loyalty, and perseverance in uncertain times. Farrell explores how relationships, whether romantic, familial, or communal, become sites of hope and endurance amid instability. The violence that infiltrates Cobblers is not just pub brawling but a reflection of the deep social divisions in South Africa’s new democracy. Yet the novel avoids cynicism. Instead, it presents love and connection as acts of defiance against despair.

Farrell’s style blends memoir-like immediacy with novelistic detail. His prose is straightforward yet evocative, conjuring the sensory reality of pub life - the noise of music, the tension in the air before a fight, the comfort of familiar faces. The use of nicknames for troublesome patrons adds a surreal, almost folkloric quality, highlighting the absurdity and unpredictability of everyday conflict. This balance of realism and imaginative flourish keeps the narrative engaging and accessible.

Perhaps the real significance of the novel lies in the way My African Rose situates a deeply personal narrative within a national story of transition. By focusing on an ordinary couple in an extraordinary time, Farrell captures the texture of South African life beyond the headlines of politics and sport, although events such as the Springboks’ 1995 Rugby World Cup victory and the growing pains of majority rule echo in the background. The book contributes to a body of work that examines the intersection of love, community, and political upheaval, while retaining a grounded, human focus.

Farrell offers readers a moving exploration of how ordinary lives are shaped by extraordinary circumstances, making this a compelling and meaningful conclusion to his trilogy.

Ultimately, My African Rose is both tender and unflinching. It celebrates the endurance of love while acknowledging the fragility of stability in a society still healing.

Reviewer: Chris Reed

My African Rose

🪶✨ 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝘆 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗲
At its heart, this book isn’t just about a bar in a small South African town. It’s about what happens when love is tested by a world in transition. 💔

🌍 1995. The Springboks have won the Rugby World Cup. Nelson Mandela is president. The country is changing, but not fast enough.

💥 In Cobblers Bar and Grill, tensions flare. Fists fly. Prejudices don’t vanish overnight.

❤️ And in the middle of it all are Rose and Rorke, fighting not only to keep their business afloat—but their relationship, too.

🔥 𝗠𝘆 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗲 is about:
▪️ Love vs. violence
▪️ Dreams vs. reality
▪️ Hope vs. history

What happens when the world outside starts to fracture the world you’re building inside?

📚 If you’ve ever believed in love surviving through chaos, this book is for you.

💬 𝗤𝗢𝗧𝗗... what’s one book that made you feel something real?

My African Rose

Rose convinces Rorke to leave their corporate jobs and invest in the local tavern, Cobblers Bar and Grill.
But their dream is far from peaceful.
⚠️ Escalating violence
Fights sparked by race, gender, and prejudice
❤️‍🔥 A couple trying to hold it together
🌍 A country in transition
𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦’𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮? 𝘖𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮?
📚 𝗠𝘆 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗲 is a story of love, resilience, and survival in a nation at a crossroads.
👇 What do you think of the cover? Let us know below!
Repost Kingsley Publishers

A story of the realities and challenges faced when moving to a new country.
In seeking a safer environment to raise his family, Rorke and Rose make the heartbreaking decision to leave their extended family and beloved motherland, Africa and migrate to New Zealand.
An extraordinary tale of heartbreak and resilience in navigating migration legal battles, cultural differences, facing racism and prejudice yet the triumph and joy in found family and the feeling of freedom and community.
While this story is fiction, it reads in the beautiful style of a memoir as I believe David has drawn on his own personal experiences.
Where The Birds Don't Fly

With my wife and daughter away on a 3 week trip and me staying behind, I thought I’d spend the time writing.
I didn’t write a single word.
I’m okay with that because being an author is more than putting sentences together.
My learning and inspiration came from Zelda, our rescue, who joined us a couple of years ago.
I watched her demeanour spiral once the family left. She moped about the house, seldom going outdoors. Even the highlight of her day, a walk, was a subdued affair. In the evenings on my return from work and after being fed, she lay beside me as I flicked through the tv channels. Without luck or interest in anything.
With little more than a few days before their arrival, I noticed she has perked up. Doing zoomies and playing with her neglected toys strewn across the garden. There is a glint in her eye and her mischievousness has returned.
Her sudden change in behavior both pleased and puzzled me; then, the reason struck me.
Her attitude shifted around the same time my partner and I spoke about their flight home. Zelda was there watching me chat and responded to my reaction and lift in spirits.
A reminder of just how impactful our actions are on those around us that come back tenfold.
Zelda, your lesson on others mirroring ourselves, however hard to swallow, is appreciated.
My creativity and words have reappeared.
#thewildecollectionWhere The Birds Don't Fly