Description
Moederland offers a brave and enlightening exploration of heritage and racial history, providing insight into the complexities of being descended from the architects of apartheid in South Africa. This groundbreaking trade paperback, set for release in 2024, intricately weaves the turbulent narrative of South Africa, illuminating the experiences of women whose voices have often been overshadowed in historical discourse. Through the lives of her ancestors, Cato Pedder takes readers on a captivating journey from the 1600s Dutch settlement of Cape Town to the Zulu era in the 1800s, illustrating the pivotal roles women played during times of racial upheaval.
This must-read book not only engages with personal memoir but also deeply analyzes collective memory and guilt, making it a vital contribution to discussions around anti-racism and the implications of heritage. Fans of Edmund de Waal’s 'The Hare with Amber Eyes' and Damon Galgut's 'The Promise' will find much to appreciate in this narrative. Moederland is more than just a book; it is a profound inquiry into personal and national identity and a call to reckon with the past.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9781399810807
Format: Trade paperback (UK)
Year: 2024
Publisher: John Murray
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9781399810807
Format: Trade paperback (UK)
Year: 2024
Publisher: John Murray
Description:
Moederland is a courageous and modern appraisal of what it means to be descended from the people who created the ultraracist apartheid system in South Africa. Illuminating its turbulent history through the lives of her female ancestors, it is a history of South Africa like no other, told from the perspective of women long silenced in the historical narrative. It asks, what were they doing while white supremacy was constructed?
In Moederland, Cato Pedder travels the centuries from the 1600s, when Cape Town was a remote outpost of the Dutch East India Company, to the kraal of a Zulu king in the 1800s before doubling back to Europe and then culminating with the English Quaker aunt who defies apartheid to marry across the colour line. As anti-racist campaigners call out the statue of Jan Smuts in Parliament Square, Cato painstakingly excavates the long-forgotten life stories of the women of her prehistory, unpacking the legacy of her Afrikaans heritage and bringing their collective shame into the light.
Moederland brilliantly sits at the borderline between personal history and memoir and shares themes with The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal, The Wife's Tale by Aida Edemariam and Maybe Esther by Katja Petrowskaja, both of which use unknown forebears to throw new light on the troubled past. It will also appeal to readers of Damon Galgut's Booker Prize winning novel, The Promise.
This must-read book not only engages with personal memoir but also deeply analyzes collective memory and guilt, making it a vital contribution to discussions around anti-racism and the implications of heritage. Fans of Edmund de Waal’s 'The Hare with Amber Eyes' and Damon Galgut's 'The Promise' will find much to appreciate in this narrative. Moederland is more than just a book; it is a profound inquiry into personal and national identity and a call to reckon with the past.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9781399810807
Format: Trade paperback (UK)
Year: 2024
Publisher: John Murray
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9781399810807
Format: Trade paperback (UK)
Year: 2024
Publisher: John Murray
Description:
Moederland is a courageous and modern appraisal of what it means to be descended from the people who created the ultraracist apartheid system in South Africa. Illuminating its turbulent history through the lives of her female ancestors, it is a history of South Africa like no other, told from the perspective of women long silenced in the historical narrative. It asks, what were they doing while white supremacy was constructed?
In Moederland, Cato Pedder travels the centuries from the 1600s, when Cape Town was a remote outpost of the Dutch East India Company, to the kraal of a Zulu king in the 1800s before doubling back to Europe and then culminating with the English Quaker aunt who defies apartheid to marry across the colour line. As anti-racist campaigners call out the statue of Jan Smuts in Parliament Square, Cato painstakingly excavates the long-forgotten life stories of the women of her prehistory, unpacking the legacy of her Afrikaans heritage and bringing their collective shame into the light.
Moederland brilliantly sits at the borderline between personal history and memoir and shares themes with The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal, The Wife's Tale by Aida Edemariam and Maybe Esther by Katja Petrowskaja, both of which use unknown forebears to throw new light on the troubled past. It will also appeal to readers of Damon Galgut's Booker Prize winning novel, The Promise.