Waiting for Fidel in the Springtime and other stories by Pandit, Shereen (2014) Paperback

by Shereen Pandit

Waiting for Fidel in the Springtime is a collection of stories - about death. Alice, seeking stories on that theme for a publication, turns to her friend Selma. The title story is Selma's response - an uproariously funny picture of the new South Africa. Alice collects stories of death in many forms - physical and spiritual, individual and social. Set mainly in South Africa, the stories unveil the brutal realities of South African life past and present, at home and in exile. The central characters are victims, observers, perpetrators, fighters. In Passive Resistance a young child refuses to bow to tyranny. There follow a host of other children, young adults, mature activists, exiles. Finally, in The Necklace, the child is no longer content to resist passively. She avenges tyranny with a violence which explodes the myth of the rainbow nation in harsh contrast to Selma's sly fun-poking.

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Reviews

[Valmont Layne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read and doubly so because I have lived through the events that stage the backdrop to this story. Highly recommended.