When Lesley Smailes set off from Port Elizabeth for a gap year, her mother joked: «Whatever you do, don't get married. And don't join a cult.» But within months, Lesley was part of a notorious American sect, married to a man she hardly knew and allowed only minimal contact with her family. Despite rape, home births and a forced abortion, her belief was unshakeable. Until she was faced with the terrifyingly real threat of losing her chi ...
The outsider on the inside. The one who watches and listens. The bearer of tales… Growing up Jewish in a small town in the Free State in the '50s and '60s, Jennifer Friedman moves between child and adult, black and white, as Verwoerd's grand apartheid is dividing South Africa. There are midnight escapes, stolen loot and banned comics. Frogs' legs, eisteddfods, icy drives with Grandpa, hideous encounters with bras, terrifying ...
At just 17, Fatima Meer threw herself into resisting racism, the first public act of defiance in a long and pioneering political life. Despite assassination attempts, petrol bombs and the constant harassment of her family, she persevered on the courageous path she had chosen. In this intimate memoir, Fatima Meer shares her personal story of growing up and of love, joy, longing and loss. As Meer openly reflects on her regrets as well as her trium ...
Hermann Giliomee weaves together the story of his own life with that of his country, a country that continues to absorb and inspire him, not least because its contested history is central to its current politics. An internationally respected historian, Giliomee has devoted a lifetime to exploring the origins and perpetuation of the deep divisions in South African society. His work, original and fearless, appeals not only to scholars but also to ...
Hermann Giliomee verweef die verhaal van sy lewensverloop met die van 'n land wat hom boei en besiel, 'n land waar die geskiedskrywing sentraal staan tot die hedendaagse politiek. As internasionaal gerekende historikus ondersoek Giliomee lewenslank die ontstaan en handhawing van die skerp verdeeldheid in die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing. Sy werk is vars en vreesloos, en vind aanklank by kenners en gewone Afrikaanse lesers wat oor hulself ...
Writer, journalist and occasional comedian Marianne Thamm recounts her unconventional life story with great honesty and humour. Born to a German father and a Portuguese mother who had immigrated to South Africa at the height of white rule, Marianne grew up tough amid Afrikaans neighbours in Pretoria's less salubrious suburbs. Today, she is an outspoken feminist icon and the delighted mother of two. Told in her inimitable, frank and funny vo ...
Hierdie boek vertel die volle, grootliks onbekende verhaal van Emily Hobhouse, nie net 'n Anglo-Boereoorlogheld nie, maar ook 'n aktivis en stryder teen onreg en onderdrukking op verskeie kontinente. Elsabe Brits het Emily se handgeskrewe notas, dagboeke en plakboeke in 'n trommel in Kanada ontdek, en haal hieruit en uit ander nuwe bronne aan. So gee sy 'n genuanseerde, vars blik op 'n buitengewone vrou wat voortdurend i ...
A fresh, nuanced look at an extraordinary woman and her lifelong fight for justice. Defying the constraints of her gender and class, Emily Hobhouse travelled across continents and spoke out against oppression. A passionate pacifist and a feminist, she opposed both the 1899-1902 Anglo-Boer War and World War One, which led to accusations of treason. Despite saving thousands of lives in two wars, she died alone – an unsung hero in her own country. ...
Award-winning journalist Sylvia Vollenhoven tells the story of her life and how it's been turned upside down by an Ancestor: //Kabbo, a Bushman storyteller and revolutionary. She writes of being «too black» for her coloured school mates, working as one of the early female journalists in the misogynistic '70s and of the constant struggle to find an identity that fits. Finally, she unearths a history that speaks to her: first in the lang ...
