Thoughts In A Makeshift Mortuary

by Jenny Hobbs

1985. In a mountain village in Lesotho, a father rages as a mother weeps. Shot dead: their only daughter Rose, a teacher, and her husband Jake, an activist and poet. South Africa’s laws forced them into exile, while hooded gunmen took their lives. Amid the sorrow and commotion of funeral preparations, Rose and her parents’ evolving understanding of their turbulent country and of each other unfolds, always intimately connected with the lives of the women who worked for them. But all has not been lost: there was a survivor of the shooting. Hope.
Thoughts in a Makeshift Mortuary, Jenny Hobbs’s rich, powerful fi rst novel, is a story about ordinary living in extraordinary times and a moving tribute to those who worked to raise a South Africa driven to its knees.

Genres: Fiction, Lesotho, Africa

458 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Rob Barker · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a South African who grew up during the apartheid regime I found my second reading of this book as disturbing and confronting as the first. Highly recommended if you are interested in this part of South African political history.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an epochal book - I read it as a teenager, and often again through the years. It helped to shape my political consciousness.

[Avril]

Wonderful book (from a true story)

[Sherri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in the early 90s before Mandela was elected. It was a heartbreaking story, but so well written. You can fell the parents' pain.

[Sarah Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely exceptional and necessary read - especially being South African.

[Tania Kliphuis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was originally published in the late 1980s and centres primarily around a family and their struggle to come to terms with marriage, race and social and political responsibility. Not only in terms of their country at large, but also within themselves and their family. Considering that mixed race relationships were illegal (and frowned upon even when they were legalised) back then, the author is rather brave and brilliant when you consider the original pub date.

I think that Hobbs' novel is very insightful - particularly with regards to the way that she treats Rose's parents. They have come from a long line of privileged "whities" and their personal growth (while struggling against their conditioning) was handled with sensitivity and care. Hobbs is careful to point out that they "have never voted for the National Party", which always seems to me to be a common way for South Africans of that generation to proclaim that "they're not racist". But the subtle implication is that simply distancing yourself is not good enough (kind of the way that we see 'couch activists' these days).

My only gripe is that the dialogue seemed a little forced and overwritten at times. In my opinion, it didn't necessarily read the way that people speak. But I thought the book was a great read nonetheless.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not done yet, but the story is heart-breaking. It's also giving me the best glimpse into apartheid despite many annual treks to South Africa and even a recent trip to Lesotho. I have an appreciation for the context, but visits, no matter their frequency, only provide so much insight. This story is told by someone who has lived the ugly truths, listened to the many perspectives and made peace with her own, and is giving voice to all if it, laying it before the reader and daring him or her to take up the struggle.

[Shree · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first brush with apartheid in south africa.
Sad but eye-opening story abt a black poet-turned activist marrying an uptown educated white girl.

they both end up dead leaving an infant to be cared for by her parents.

The story is told through the eyes of her parents as the couple lay dead on the floor of their house (the makeshift mortuary) murdered by ppl who do not accept this inter-racial marriage.

Sad.

[Warwick Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most influential books I read during my teen years.