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The Case Against Fili Du Bois
A stray child, an unsolved crime, a precious legacy. It is the early 1990s in the beautiful winelands of the Cape. Fili, adopted daughter of Martin and Ray Du Bois, is determined to prove herself a worthy heir to their French-heritage estate. The arrival of strangers on the boundary disrupts relations with the farm workers who have been on the land for generations. Fili strives to be a peace-maker amid rising tensions. But the birth of a true heir and a tragic death in the family threatens her own future at Du Bois Vineyards, and strikes at the dream of the Rainbow Nation. For Fili is accused of a crime…
How long, she wonders, will I live in this limbo of being neither guilty nor innocent?
How long, she wonders, will I live in this limbo of being neither guilty nor innocent?
- GenresAfrica
431 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2024
8 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Mutch
9 books92 followersBarbara Mutch is the author of four novels set in South Africa. The Housemaid's Daughter, a tale of love, hope and redemption, is set in the stunning Karoo. The Girl from Simon's Bay follows a forbidden romance in the port of Simon's Town during the 2nd World War. The Fire Portrait traces the life of a young artist in a rural hamlet who survives a fire to raise a child. In The Case Against Fili Du Bois, an adopted child must make her mark amid the joys and challenges of a newly-democratic South Africa.
Visit https://barbaramutch.com for more
Barbara was born and raised in South Africa, and is the granddaughter of Irish immigrants.
Visit https://barbaramutch.com for more
Barbara was born and raised in South Africa, and is the granddaughter of Irish immigrants.
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March 20, 2025The Case against Fili du Bois by Barbara Mutch published by Amazon ebook -
The title suggests that Fili du Bois is in trouble but it is the imaginative pen of Barbara Mutch that brings us a story that builds slowly but surely towards a surprising ending, one that will have the reader reeling. Against a background of Franschhoek vineyards, dusty paths, adoption, squatters and land reclamation Mutch creates what might be termed a defence for this young, vibrant and kindhearted girl, even before we know her so-called crime. The title also suggests a second ‘case’, that of being an adopted child.
Mutch’s fourth novel ‘The Case against Fili Du Bois’ is again historical fiction, taking us to the vineyards of Franschhoek in the early 1990s through to today. To a family with an adopted daughter - who doesn’t look quite like them – we are left to guess at her heritage - loved, nurtured and inline to inherit the farm. Adopted at the beginning of the 90s, her history is unknown, but the recurring nightmares of her mother abandoning her at a small church push her into trying to find out more. Childless Martin and wife Ray DuBois come from a line of French heritage wine- farmers. Grandmère Nanette, an astute observer; cultured French ways, love for Fili, and care for the farm and its people, bringing wisdom of age. Fili is a lively child, full of personality, with close girlfriends from the smart school she attends, attuned to the vineyards where her wayward curls fly through the aisles of vines, passionate about her parents. determined to prove her worth as a winemaker, fiercely loyal to the Coloured workers who live on the farm and essentially a peacemaker. Her best friend is Bo, son of Philomen, the foreman – their strong unity evident from childhood. It is a closely bonded community, not without its jealousies or mischief makers!
When squatters make their home on the boundary of the land ripples of distrust disturb the tranquility, cracks begin to widen, loyalties are questioned and racial tension throws the farm off kilter. Adam Mfusi, the gentle father of the angry, enigmatic Kula must calm his group but there are bad elements at play. The unexpected birth of a true heir throws the family into disarray – will loyalties be divided, will the parent’s love a blood heir more than Fili, what rights to the farm will she now have? Tension arises in this formerly happy family and the stage is set. When a tragedy befalls the family - the spotlight falls on the impetuous Fili – somehow the outsider. She is thrown into the limbo of suspicion, of being neither guilty or innocent.
Mutch is a skilled writer whose sense of place and character is vivid and real. Her obvious passion for her birth country shines through in all her books and she painstakingly undertakes research ensuring authenticity. She writes in the first person so we become intimately involved with Fili’s thoughts and actions – often wanting to rein her in!
Raising difficult issues, she does not baulk at asking unspoken questions: adoption – what shapes the adopted child, nature or nurture? – is that child ever really the true child of the family – and when you don’t know the birth parents… Does a baby have memory of being abandoned –important questions which are now major research subjects. Mutch objectively explores these. Racial tension between groups, the debate on land appropriation raises the questions of who the land belongs to; rights hover like a dark cloud. While Mutch does not offer political solutions she exposes these issues with clarity and empathy. The squatters camping on the boundary, on the other side of the fence is perhaps an analogy for the challenges facing this country. Navigating the fragility of human relationships in a probing, balanced and thoughtful way, Mutch explores strong women in each of her four novels; their challenges, hardships, triumphs and loves, narrated against atmospheric descriptions of our landscape, giving global readers a sense of our diversity - and the hope that lies therein.
The title suggests that Fili du Bois is in trouble but it is the imaginative pen of Barbara Mutch that brings us a story that builds slowly but surely towards a surprising ending, one that will have the reader reeling. Against a background of Franschhoek vineyards, dusty paths, adoption, squatters and land reclamation Mutch creates what might be termed a defence for this young, vibrant and kindhearted girl, even before we know her so-called crime. The title also suggests a second ‘case’, that of being an adopted child.
Mutch’s fourth novel ‘The Case against Fili Du Bois’ is again historical fiction, taking us to the vineyards of Franschhoek in the early 1990s through to today. To a family with an adopted daughter - who doesn’t look quite like them – we are left to guess at her heritage - loved, nurtured and inline to inherit the farm. Adopted at the beginning of the 90s, her history is unknown, but the recurring nightmares of her mother abandoning her at a small church push her into trying to find out more. Childless Martin and wife Ray DuBois come from a line of French heritage wine- farmers. Grandmère Nanette, an astute observer; cultured French ways, love for Fili, and care for the farm and its people, bringing wisdom of age. Fili is a lively child, full of personality, with close girlfriends from the smart school she attends, attuned to the vineyards where her wayward curls fly through the aisles of vines, passionate about her parents. determined to prove her worth as a winemaker, fiercely loyal to the Coloured workers who live on the farm and essentially a peacemaker. Her best friend is Bo, son of Philomen, the foreman – their strong unity evident from childhood. It is a closely bonded community, not without its jealousies or mischief makers!
When squatters make their home on the boundary of the land ripples of distrust disturb the tranquility, cracks begin to widen, loyalties are questioned and racial tension throws the farm off kilter. Adam Mfusi, the gentle father of the angry, enigmatic Kula must calm his group but there are bad elements at play. The unexpected birth of a true heir throws the family into disarray – will loyalties be divided, will the parent’s love a blood heir more than Fili, what rights to the farm will she now have? Tension arises in this formerly happy family and the stage is set. When a tragedy befalls the family - the spotlight falls on the impetuous Fili – somehow the outsider. She is thrown into the limbo of suspicion, of being neither guilty or innocent.
Mutch is a skilled writer whose sense of place and character is vivid and real. Her obvious passion for her birth country shines through in all her books and she painstakingly undertakes research ensuring authenticity. She writes in the first person so we become intimately involved with Fili’s thoughts and actions – often wanting to rein her in!
Raising difficult issues, she does not baulk at asking unspoken questions: adoption – what shapes the adopted child, nature or nurture? – is that child ever really the true child of the family – and when you don’t know the birth parents… Does a baby have memory of being abandoned –important questions which are now major research subjects. Mutch objectively explores these. Racial tension between groups, the debate on land appropriation raises the questions of who the land belongs to; rights hover like a dark cloud. While Mutch does not offer political solutions she exposes these issues with clarity and empathy. The squatters camping on the boundary, on the other side of the fence is perhaps an analogy for the challenges facing this country. Navigating the fragility of human relationships in a probing, balanced and thoughtful way, Mutch explores strong women in each of her four novels; their challenges, hardships, triumphs and loves, narrated against atmospheric descriptions of our landscape, giving global readers a sense of our diversity - and the hope that lies therein.
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