Inspired by The Road through the Grove, released a decade ago, The Heart of the City is a compelling collection of tales, experiences, places and events reflecting life along Louis Botha Avenue from the late 1960s through to the early 1980s.

​

Once lined with shops, cafés and small businesses, and alive with music, conversation and fleeting romance, the avenue formed the backdrop to a richly layered melting pot of communities who built their lives in Orange Grove and the surrounding northern suburbs.

​​

In this expanded companion volume, the narrative moves beyond the street itself to trace the ridges, waterways and arterial routes that shaped Johannesburg’s growth. It also focuses on the area’s schools and institutions and to the generations of alumni whose achievements in South Africa and abroad carry the imprint of this landscape into wider national and international life.