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Chameleon
It's 1914. Troops mass for war in Europe, and even at a remote trading store in Transkei, South Africa, the Moss family and their sometimes-guest Richard feel the impact on their lives. Then Richard enlists, taking fifteen-year-old Fred with him. Albert and Martha are furious and afraid for Fred, but fourteen-year-old Eve is shattered, her hopes of eloping with Richard dashed. All she has to remember him by is a strange wooden mannikin ... Chameleon was shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Award in the UK in 2010.
382 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 26, 2013
Chameleon is a saga set in South Africa and the surrounding territories between 1914 and 1946, and traces the lives of five main characters from two families as they unravel the mystery that triggers events at the start of the book.
Chameleon was shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Award in the UK in 2010.
Chameleon was shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Award in the UK in 2010.
April 19, 2013
Chameleon: A well-constructed historical mystery set in South Africa during World War One. Traces two families saga, one black, one white and their entwined destinies. I loved the sensory detail and intrigue.
Very well written.
Very well written.
April 21, 2024
Chameleon by Kathy Stewart
Review by Jill Smith copyright July 13, 2020
This is a great ‘solve a mystery’ puzzle story, with a deep insight into life in South Africa. The first chapter asks the question, who is Richard? How did his arrival and departure after touching the lives of a family living in a shop servicing a small remote community, and the friends he made there, leave so many questions?
First, we meet Mandla, a strong and fierce, proud tribesman who is haunted by nightmares of a Chameleon, a carved likeness, that but very real in his mind.
Eve is the daughter of Martha and Albert who run the small supply store owner. The natives, and the rare visitor, purchase their basic needs from this store.
Eve is in love with Richard and can’t understand why he must leave. She knows only the stories he’s told her, his dark hair and disarming good looks. Fred Eve's older brother is with Mandla, laying pipes when Richard saddles up to leave. He tells them he'll be back.
The backdrop for this story is South Africa’s troubled time, with war looming, and fear of being overrun by Germans, even in this forgotten outpost, very real. It’s 1914 and the events that follow change the lives of the family forever. Why did Richard enlist and take young Fred, with him? Why too did Mandla join up and leave his homeland for so many years?
Years later, Catherine lives with her sister Eve in Johannesburg. She has a club foot but is trying to make her way in the world. She gets a job and meets a boy she falls for. Martha and Albert, her parents, have given her a comfortable upbringing. When Martha dies suddenly, Albert Moss is left to carry on alone. When Fred, her older brother marries, Catherine decides that it is time to do the same. Eve on the other hand seems to be set on remaining a spinster. Catherine can’t understand why her sister is so against her marriage. When they all discover a secret past, how the life of the man Eve knew as Richard, could change the future for everyone in the family forever.
Mandla had returned from the war to his village. He finds the responsibility of being the breadwinner onerous, so he leaves to work in the mines, and then the city. He stops sending money after a while and his wife Zukisa. She is forced to go to the city to find him and to get him to return if she can. Still haunted by the barbarity he had witnessed, Mandla had become an abusive husband. When Zukisa arrives in Johannesburg, she becomes a housemaid. She adopts a white name, ‘Eunice’, her past is erased, and she starts working in the Moss house for Miss Eve.
The characters grow and change, some for the better, some not so. This is a book I was asked to review some time ago, I regret not having read it sooner. The depiction of life in South Africa is vivid. The lives of the natives, who rely on the white people, who are oblivious to their obligations, or the consequences of their actions which is vividly portrayed.
Kathy gets into the soul of her characters eloquently describing their moments in life that create this wonderfully woven tale. It is a book I recommend highly as it leaves the reader with deep insight into the possibilities of what could happen in a country in turmoil, when a young man seeking his mark on the world, finds he must hide from a tangled past filled with espionage.
Review by Jill Smith copyright July 13, 2020
This is a great ‘solve a mystery’ puzzle story, with a deep insight into life in South Africa. The first chapter asks the question, who is Richard? How did his arrival and departure after touching the lives of a family living in a shop servicing a small remote community, and the friends he made there, leave so many questions?
First, we meet Mandla, a strong and fierce, proud tribesman who is haunted by nightmares of a Chameleon, a carved likeness, that but very real in his mind.
Eve is the daughter of Martha and Albert who run the small supply store owner. The natives, and the rare visitor, purchase their basic needs from this store.
Eve is in love with Richard and can’t understand why he must leave. She knows only the stories he’s told her, his dark hair and disarming good looks. Fred Eve's older brother is with Mandla, laying pipes when Richard saddles up to leave. He tells them he'll be back.
The backdrop for this story is South Africa’s troubled time, with war looming, and fear of being overrun by Germans, even in this forgotten outpost, very real. It’s 1914 and the events that follow change the lives of the family forever. Why did Richard enlist and take young Fred, with him? Why too did Mandla join up and leave his homeland for so many years?
Years later, Catherine lives with her sister Eve in Johannesburg. She has a club foot but is trying to make her way in the world. She gets a job and meets a boy she falls for. Martha and Albert, her parents, have given her a comfortable upbringing. When Martha dies suddenly, Albert Moss is left to carry on alone. When Fred, her older brother marries, Catherine decides that it is time to do the same. Eve on the other hand seems to be set on remaining a spinster. Catherine can’t understand why her sister is so against her marriage. When they all discover a secret past, how the life of the man Eve knew as Richard, could change the future for everyone in the family forever.
Mandla had returned from the war to his village. He finds the responsibility of being the breadwinner onerous, so he leaves to work in the mines, and then the city. He stops sending money after a while and his wife Zukisa. She is forced to go to the city to find him and to get him to return if she can. Still haunted by the barbarity he had witnessed, Mandla had become an abusive husband. When Zukisa arrives in Johannesburg, she becomes a housemaid. She adopts a white name, ‘Eunice’, her past is erased, and she starts working in the Moss house for Miss Eve.
The characters grow and change, some for the better, some not so. This is a book I was asked to review some time ago, I regret not having read it sooner. The depiction of life in South Africa is vivid. The lives of the natives, who rely on the white people, who are oblivious to their obligations, or the consequences of their actions which is vividly portrayed.
Kathy gets into the soul of her characters eloquently describing their moments in life that create this wonderfully woven tale. It is a book I recommend highly as it leaves the reader with deep insight into the possibilities of what could happen in a country in turmoil, when a young man seeking his mark on the world, finds he must hide from a tangled past filled with espionage.
September 28, 2013
Chameleon is an intriguing combination of thriller, well researched history, romance and drama. It had me gripped from the first page to the last. Kathy's beautiful descriptions and intimate knowledge of the regions in which the book was set, as well as the ways of the Xhosa and Zulu peoples, leaves one almost able to smell and feel the scene. It evokes such a wide range of emotions; curiosity, anger, heartache, revulsion, pity... She skilfully and often surprisingly moves the reader to empathize with those on every side of the unfolding drama. I would definitely recommend it!
May 16, 2013
I enjoyed this well-written book. The setting in South Africa was authentic and interesting. What I didn't like was that the story was somewhat predictable and there were too many plot twists at the end. Also, the chameleon in the title, although mentioned, didn't really have anything to do with what happened. That was disappointing.
September 28, 2013
Chameleon is very well written and full of surprising twists and turns. Kathy paints vivid pictures and her book caught my attention right from the start. A highly recommended read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews