How it began... The OVAL Office...

Thank you for joining me here. I am Jacquelene Botha, author of Honey from the Carcass — a memoir shaped by grief, faith, healing, and the surprising sweetness that can rise out of the darkest seasons of life.

I finally did it.
2026 marks ten years since my parents were taken, and nothing in my life has been the same since. Some things became better, some became far worse. It was the moment I learned that life and death can sit in the same breath. Bereavement reopened wounds I thought I had already survived, and it forced me to face everything I had avoided for years.

I believe we all carry untold stories of loss and healing. That is how I write, and these are the kinds of books I want to share — honest, sometimes painfully so, but written with the hope that someone who is struggling will recognise a piece of their own journey.

I made a vow to write many years ago, but I never kept it. Not until the day I saw President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office. Something in me broke open. I fell to my knees because I wanted to speak in that room for voices that were never heard. So I wrote. I wrote until it emptied me, until it hurt, until it healed. And now I can finally share that journey with you.
This page will be a place where I share updates on my writing, behind the scenes reflections, and the themes that shaped my memoir. I hope it becomes a gentle space for anyone who has walked through trauma, loss, faith, and rebuilding.

Thank you for being here.
I look forward to sharing the journey with you.