Across the Kala Pani by Shevlyn Mottai

Don't read this book if you don't want to get even more angry at British colonialism. That's my advice. Me? I like to get plenty angry about what these powers did to Africa. Across the Kala Pani by Shevlyn Mottai tells the story of four indentured Indian women who sought a better life for themselves in South Africa, working on the sugar plantations in what is now KwaZulu-Natal during the early 1900s. The author herself, is descended from indentured Indians, so these four intertwined lives draw deeply from her own cultural heritage.

One thing I've also thought about at length is that for anyone to uproot themselves from their home to take a chance in another land, with an ocean between, is an option that a person would only choose if their present state has become intolerable. And each of the women in this story – Lutchmee, Vottie, Chinmah, and Jyothi – has a tragic situation that has resulted in them finding themselves aboard a ship headed to Africa.

In South Africa, the rigid castes that defined them in India no longer matter, but what does matter is the bonds of friendship that they have formed during a difficult voyage and endured during the hardships they continue to face. Life, they find, is no easier once they disembark, where they now contend with British plantation owners who treat them no better than chattel, one step up from outright slaves. This is heartbreaking and illuminating, painting in stark tones the lived reality that many immigrants faced here.

I find the idea of culture transplanted and transformed fascinating, and this is one such story, underpinned by the efforts of brave women who carve their own fates despite the incredible adversity they experienced. This is is a harrowing tale, but it is a heartfelt one, that I believe is important, offering a glimpse into our country's colonial past that is crafted with incredible empathy and an eye for laying bare inconvenient truths our history books may well gloss over – highly recommended.

Kamphoer deur Francois Smith

Kamphoer deur Francois Smith was vir my nogal 'n moelike boek om te lees. Die storie self is nie lineêr nie, en skuif tussen die hede en die verlede, soos dit aangaan. Daar is distansie in die hede, terwyl die herinneringe meer persoonlik, onmiddelik is.

Dit is gebaseer op 'n ware verhaal van Susan Nell, wie se familie bywoners was op 'n Vrystaatse plaas gedurende die Anglo-Boereoolog. Toe sy in Winburg se konsentrasiekamp beland het, was sy verkrag deur twee Engelse soldate en 'n joiner, en toe so wreed aangerand is dat hulle haar byna doodgemaak het. Haar liggaam het van die lykswa afgerol en 'n Sotho man, Tiisetso, het haar ontdek. Al was se erg beseer, het hy en sy vrou Mamello, vir haar gesond gemaak en toe vir haar Kaap toe gestuur, waar die fotograaf Jack Perry vir homself oor haar ontverm het.

Ek gaan nie die hele verhaal oorvertel nie, maar gaan maar net uitskets hoe Susan se belang in psigoterapie vir haar gely het om te werk met die wat deur drie oorloë van bombskok gely het. Sy het ook twee van haar verkragters weer ontmoet, maar dié roman handel meestal net met haar tyd by die psigiatriese hospitaal in Engeland.

Kamphoer is 'n ongemaklike storie, en omdat dit op die waarheid gebaseer is, is daar nie 'n bevredigende einde nie. Die tema is die van die stories wat 'n mens vir jouself vertel, en hoe die lewe eintlik maar niks beteken nie – net 'n leë, oorgroeide graf iewers in die veld.