What do you think?
Rate this book
Holding Up the Sky: An African Life
This astonishing autobiographical work is the story of Australian woman Sandy Blackburn-Wright's complex love affair with Africa and its people.
520 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 25, 2011
9 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 6, 2016
Three good reasons to read 'Holding up the sky':
1. I reckon this memoir should be compulsory reading for any white westerners with romantic ideas about going to third world countries as #saviourbarbie. It's a clear-eyed account of the challenges, rewards & costs of really engaging with the communities you are wanting to help.
2. It's now over 20 years since the end of apartheid, so the book, which starts in the late 80s, is also a primer, albeit from a non-African perspective, on those turbulent years.
3. As a person living in a mixed race family, I'm always interested in finding out how that works out for other people. Sandy tells her family's story with a self-awareness that's lacking in some of the other books on this theme that I've read by white women. This is refreshing, although there were times, as the story unrolled, that I wanted to yell out at her: nooooo! Don't do that! But of course it's a true story of growth and change, so she had to learn from her own mistakes - and so will the reader, I hope.
1. I reckon this memoir should be compulsory reading for any white westerners with romantic ideas about going to third world countries as #saviourbarbie. It's a clear-eyed account of the challenges, rewards & costs of really engaging with the communities you are wanting to help.
2. It's now over 20 years since the end of apartheid, so the book, which starts in the late 80s, is also a primer, albeit from a non-African perspective, on those turbulent years.
3. As a person living in a mixed race family, I'm always interested in finding out how that works out for other people. Sandy tells her family's story with a self-awareness that's lacking in some of the other books on this theme that I've read by white women. This is refreshing, although there were times, as the story unrolled, that I wanted to yell out at her: nooooo! Don't do that! But of course it's a true story of growth and change, so she had to learn from her own mistakes - and so will the reader, I hope.
July 11, 2017
Got a new perspective on well known South African historical events. Learned a lot about my country's history too. Well worth the read.
January 15, 2019
Interesting enough if you enjoy people's stories but not the most riveting read particularly given the subject matter, time frame is so pivotal in South African recent history.
March 23, 2021
Extraordinary story of a courageous and fascinating woman.
The overlay of the author’s life with the political scenery of South Africa in the 90s is a great way to get insight into the complex history.
Worth reading just to be reminded to be brave and live fully.
The overlay of the author’s life with the political scenery of South Africa in the 90s is a great way to get insight into the complex history.
Worth reading just to be reminded to be brave and live fully.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews