Lansdowne dearest

My family’s story of forced removals

Bronwyn Davids

ISBN:

9780795709807

Epub ISBN:

9780795709814

Publisher:

Kwela

Date Released:

June 2020

Price (incl. VAT):

R 360.00

Format:

Soft cover, 208pp


About this book:

In the 1920s, Bronwyn Davids’ great-grandpa Joe McBain built their family home in Lansdowne. In this memoir, Davids vibrantly recreates life lived in this house for generations: There’s doekpoeding  for Christmas; helpful neighbours dropping by for advice and chommies playing kennetjie. 

But this is also an account of a gut-wrenching loss. Set against the background of apartheid forced removals, this is a charming and authentically South African family story that will stay with you.

 

 

 

Read extract

Readers say

‘A powerful story written with clarity, composure and compassion. . . Davids expresses herself with such fl uency and insight that the aromas and colours, the pains and the pleasures, the aspirations and the suppressions of Lansdowne Dearest feel near and real. This book is a must-read.’

– Jonathan Jansen


‘An affectionate, often pained family record and a vivid tile in the mosaic of South African stories.’

– Michele Magwood


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