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Good Hope
THE WESTERN CAPE IS NOW AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY.
SUCCESSFUL, SAFE,
MURDEROUS
Lisa Robinson has moved from Durban to Cape Town to be with Grant, the prospective next First Minister of the Good Hope Territory. The GHT is the safest and most prosperous country in the southern hemisphere – at a price. Citizens contract to be tracked by drones, executions are synchronised to the Noon Gun and only those with qualifications are permitted to vote in the Qualified Franchise system. Life here is picture-perfect. The Mother City is pristine. Everyone has a job. Tourism is booming. But this shiny new state has decided that Lisa is a problem, and problems here disappear quickly and quietly.
‘A riveting read and a scary glimpse into what happens when liberty is traded for order. Unputdownable.’
GEORDIN HILL-LEWIS
SUCCESSFUL, SAFE,
MURDEROUS
Lisa Robinson has moved from Durban to Cape Town to be with Grant, the prospective next First Minister of the Good Hope Territory. The GHT is the safest and most prosperous country in the southern hemisphere – at a price. Citizens contract to be tracked by drones, executions are synchronised to the Noon Gun and only those with qualifications are permitted to vote in the Qualified Franchise system. Life here is picture-perfect. The Mother City is pristine. Everyone has a job. Tourism is booming. But this shiny new state has decided that Lisa is a problem, and problems here disappear quickly and quietly.
‘A riveting read and a scary glimpse into what happens when liberty is traded for order. Unputdownable.’
GEORDIN HILL-LEWIS
302 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 25, 2024
2 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 2, 2024
4.5 stars
An underrated perk of reading books set locally to you is how exponentially more freaked out you can get when the horrific things are set in your backyard. This is one of the most terrifying books I've read. I can best liken it to The Handmaid's Tale but told from the perspective of Serena - someone convincing themselves the vile things they're doing are the right things. What's worse is you know there's people out there who will read a book like this and think, 'yes, this is the kind of world I want to live in.' Absolutely chilling.
An underrated perk of reading books set locally to you is how exponentially more freaked out you can get when the horrific things are set in your backyard. This is one of the most terrifying books I've read. I can best liken it to The Handmaid's Tale but told from the perspective of Serena - someone convincing themselves the vile things they're doing are the right things. What's worse is you know there's people out there who will read a book like this and think, 'yes, this is the kind of world I want to live in.' Absolutely chilling.
August 28, 2024
#GoodHope – Nick Clelland
#KaravanPress
Shakespeare’s Richard III desired a horse above all else. Times have changed, horses are now worth substantially less in an existential battle. Land, and all that it represents, has acquired a much higher position on the podium of desires. Owning land carries a level of authority, the right to autonomy and self-governing presumed natural consequences thereof.
Imagine the following: The province of the Western Cape issues a unilateral declaration of independence from South Africa and becomes an independent country with its own currency and legal system. Human rights, as we know it, are abolished. The rights of the individual become subservient to those of the masses; the herd must survive, even flourish, at all costs. Thus, the death penalty is reinstated, school attendance is compulsory, failure to attend, even playing truant for a single day, can result in the child being removed from parental care, inhabitants are tracked by drones and apps utilizing facial recognition software, and labour laws and unions are outlawed.
Lisa Robinson was a resident of Durban, South Africa, but moved to the Good Hope Territory to be by the side of her lover, Grant Stonell, the prospective next First Minister. A political war is raging between his Hope Alliance Party, and the Territory Party of the current First Minister. Lisa used to be a docile, complacent young woman, but since the murder of her brother, “…the intimacy of violence had shifted something. Pushed her beyond a boundary.” (13) The Good Hope Territory may be the safest and most prosperous country in the Southern Hemisphere, but, in Lisa’s words:” At what cost? State-sponsored abuse? This is madness.” (98)
Although speculative fiction, the novel is not set in the future, rather in an alternative version of 2022. Part political thriller, and part epistolary novel, each chapter opens with an extract from Wikipedia, providing the reader with the brief history of the Good Hope Territory, contrasted with short quotes from the Freedom Charter, as adopted on 26 June 1955.
This juxtaposition is very effective in illuminating the difference between what you desire, and what you receive. Be careful what you wish for, there is always a price to pay.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #Uitdieperdsebek
#KaravanPress
Shakespeare’s Richard III desired a horse above all else. Times have changed, horses are now worth substantially less in an existential battle. Land, and all that it represents, has acquired a much higher position on the podium of desires. Owning land carries a level of authority, the right to autonomy and self-governing presumed natural consequences thereof.
Imagine the following: The province of the Western Cape issues a unilateral declaration of independence from South Africa and becomes an independent country with its own currency and legal system. Human rights, as we know it, are abolished. The rights of the individual become subservient to those of the masses; the herd must survive, even flourish, at all costs. Thus, the death penalty is reinstated, school attendance is compulsory, failure to attend, even playing truant for a single day, can result in the child being removed from parental care, inhabitants are tracked by drones and apps utilizing facial recognition software, and labour laws and unions are outlawed.
Lisa Robinson was a resident of Durban, South Africa, but moved to the Good Hope Territory to be by the side of her lover, Grant Stonell, the prospective next First Minister. A political war is raging between his Hope Alliance Party, and the Territory Party of the current First Minister. Lisa used to be a docile, complacent young woman, but since the murder of her brother, “…the intimacy of violence had shifted something. Pushed her beyond a boundary.” (13) The Good Hope Territory may be the safest and most prosperous country in the Southern Hemisphere, but, in Lisa’s words:” At what cost? State-sponsored abuse? This is madness.” (98)
Although speculative fiction, the novel is not set in the future, rather in an alternative version of 2022. Part political thriller, and part epistolary novel, each chapter opens with an extract from Wikipedia, providing the reader with the brief history of the Good Hope Territory, contrasted with short quotes from the Freedom Charter, as adopted on 26 June 1955.
This juxtaposition is very effective in illuminating the difference between what you desire, and what you receive. Be careful what you wish for, there is always a price to pay.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #Uitdieperdsebek
April 2, 2025
It took me a while to get into this book. That was due to the structure and because English is not my first language. But once I got into it, I didn't want to put it down. A political thriller in the vein of 'Black Mirror' set in a place I love to walk around.
If you've ever been to Cape Town, you'll recognize many places. And I think that also contributes to my fascination with the book.
With a backdrop of apartheid and the ever-growing populism, this book is more frightening than fascinating. There are people in the world who would already see this as an ideal world. And that is extra scary.
January 10, 2025
3.5☆ This is a tough one to write about, way more premise than plot, but what a premise. The biggest problem for me was finding the protagonists unlikable so not really caring.
That said, the world the author has built is great, and I generally enjoy his writing style, so I'm looking forward to see if he writes another story in the GHT.
Mild spoiler:
Not sure why he bothered with the visa check-in fails bit. That went nowhere.
That said, the world the author has built is great, and I generally enjoy his writing style, so I'm looking forward to see if he writes another story in the GHT.
Mild spoiler:
Not sure why he bothered with the visa check-in fails bit. That went nowhere.
May 13, 2024
Gripping and thought-provoking, this novel explores the dystopian idea of secession of the Western Cape from the greater SA, establishing a country that 'works' and is safe, but at what cost?
March 18, 2025
A couple of loose ends here and there and the ending felt a bit rushed but I devoured this and really enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews