- Nonfiction
- Biography
A Childhood Made Up: Living with my mother's madness
Brent Meersman
ISBN:
Epub ISBN:
9780624089407
Publisher:
Date Released:
Price (incl. VAT):
Format:
Soft cover, 240pp
About this book:
I remembered how, when I was a small child supposed to be asleep, my mother would slip into bed behind me and hold me. She would be trembling. She couldn’t hide it no matter how young I was. ‘Go to sleep, go to sleep,’ she’d say, as if that would save us.
Brent Meersman’s poignant memoir of a humble and eccentric upbringing in Cape Town, South Africa, in the 1970s and ’80s reads as a stirring eulogy to his mother, and a vivid snapshot of the times. His adoring mother, a horse-loving artist, received only rudimentary treatment for her schizophrenia; while his father battled a vicious whirlpool of alcohol-fuelled depression.
A Childhood Made Up is beautifully observed and filled with wry humour. Delicate yet brutal, this story pays testament to the power of love and the quiet heroism of resilience.
‘An engrossing, deeply personal and authentic narrative on an important topic. Powerful . . .’ - Dr Sean Baumann - Senior specialist psychiatrist
‘Infinitely poignant, acutely written, often witty . . . Through pain and grief, larded with comic flashes, Meersman skilfully guides us to an unexpected and deeply moving redemption.’ - Justice Edwin Cameron
eBook Platforms:
Amazon
Snapplify
Takealot
Kobo
RELATED BOOKS

I Beg to Differ
Peter Storey

You Have to be Gay to Know God
Siya Khumalo

The Girl Who Survived Her Mother
Moshitadi Lehlomela

Whitey: The Rise and Rule of the Shoprite King
Niel Joubert

Putco Mafani: The Price and Prize of Greatness
Putco Mafani

Zephany (E)
Joanne Jowell

Robert McBride: The Struggle Continues
Bryan Rostron

Christo Wiese
TJ Strydom

Cult Sister
Lesley Smailes

Look At Me
Nataniël

Takka Takka Bom Bom
Al Venter

Christo Wiese
TJ Strydom

Whitey: Sakereus van Shoprite
Niel Joubert

Statues and Storms
Max Price

Faith and Courage
Thabo Makgoba

Die kind se naam is Anneke
Juliana Coetzer

Love and Above
Sarah Bullen

Jeremy vannie Elsies
Jeremy Vearey

Lucas Mangope
Oupa Segalwe

If This Be Treason
Helen Joseph

Into Dark Water: A Police Memoir
Jeremy Vearey

The Corporate Revolutionary
David Williams

Derick Hougaard
Brenden Nel

The Messiah's Dream Machine
Jennifer Friedman

Kyk na my
Nataniël

Betting on a Darkie
Mteto Nyati

Clare: The killing of a gentle activist
Christopher Clark

In my vel
Azille Coetzee

Ghetto Ninja
Nikolaos Kirkinis, Junior Khanye

Becoming a Doctor
Hloni Bookholane

Anton Rupert
Ebbe Dommisse

Out of Quatro
Luthando Dyasop

Life Lessons
Alan Knott-Craig

How I Took Back My Power
Nompumelelo Runji

Biko: Anniversary Edition
Xolela Mangcu

Hermann Giliomee: Historikus -- 'n Outobiografie
Hermann Giliomee

Comrade Editor
Gwen Lister

Heart of a Strong Woman
Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema, Fred Khumalo

I am Ella
Joanne Jowell

Now You Know How Mapetla Died
Zikhona Valela

Vusi
Vusi Thembekwayo

Lansdowne dearest
Bronwyn Davids

Hermann Giliomee: Historian -- An Autobiography
Hermann Giliomee

But He Speaks So Well
Ivan Johnson

Anton Rupert
Ebbe Dommisse

Zephany (A)
Joanne Jowell

Kwanele, Enough!
Andy Kawa

The Legend of Zola Mahobe and the Mamelodi Sundowns Story
Don Lepati, Nikolaos Kirkinis

Andile Gaelesiwe: Remembering
Andile Gaelesiwe

Witnessing
Pie-Pacifique Kabalira-Uwase