What do you think?
Rate this book
A Handful of Earth
For Abraham de Bruyn and the young men of The Island, World War ii offers more than a chance to prove their mettle. Compensation for signing up to fight is a dream come true: each soldier will receive a piece of land to call his own. Having been removed to The Island years before from land at the foot of the majestic Outeniqua Mountains in the southern Cape, where they had lived and farmed for generations, they believe that Jan Smuts’s war will finally put things right.
Leaving his young wife and family behind, Abraham travels to North Africa. With him is his brother, Stanley, and Kobus, a wayward Afrikaner who is fighting alongside the Allies against the wishes of his Nationalist father.
In Egypt, a fateful bullet sends Abraham home, but his battle is far from over as promises of land turn to dust. When in 1950 Abraham and his people are forced to move again, circumstances become almost unbearable. What does a good man have to endure for his own handful of earth?
Simon Bruinders’s novel, first published in Afrikaans as Die Sideboard, is not only the story of a family caught up in the throes of history. It is also a rich chronicle of an often overlooked community that toiled on South African soil for centuries, and bears witness to the resilience of the human spirit.
Leaving his young wife and family behind, Abraham travels to North Africa. With him is his brother, Stanley, and Kobus, a wayward Afrikaner who is fighting alongside the Allies against the wishes of his Nationalist father.
In Egypt, a fateful bullet sends Abraham home, but his battle is far from over as promises of land turn to dust. When in 1950 Abraham and his people are forced to move again, circumstances become almost unbearable. What does a good man have to endure for his own handful of earth?
Simon Bruinders’s novel, first published in Afrikaans as Die Sideboard, is not only the story of a family caught up in the throes of history. It is also a rich chronicle of an often overlooked community that toiled on South African soil for centuries, and bears witness to the resilience of the human spirit.
232 pages, Softcover
First published March 10, 2017
17 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 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 3, 2017
This book is beautifully written in sparse language that keeps the plot moving along swiftly. It makes an important contribution to documenting the experiences of different people in various geographical locations during apartheid. In this case it focuses on the rarely told history of the Coloured community of George in the southern Cape and, through the life of Abraham de Bruyn and his family, illustrates how these families suffered a gradual erosion of rights over a period of 50 years.
At the same time, it highlights the often forgotten, or conveniently ignored, contribution of these communities to both World Wars on the side of the Allied forces. It also provides a sense of the overall loss to the broader society by excluding the different contributions of these groups to creating diverse communities with a specific sense of place and character.
More than anything, it serves to deepen the reader's understanding of the emotional importance and sensitivity of land ownership in South Africa. The family suffers the loss of well-loved and tended land at the hand of a racist government and its inhumane policies twice during the course of the tale with associated economic and emotional costs. The impact of these decisions are reflected in the on-going narrative on land ownership in South Africa.
Highly recommend it to anybody who wants to read a very well-written book that illustrates the complexity of the South African experience through the eyes of a lovely cast of characters.
At the same time, it highlights the often forgotten, or conveniently ignored, contribution of these communities to both World Wars on the side of the Allied forces. It also provides a sense of the overall loss to the broader society by excluding the different contributions of these groups to creating diverse communities with a specific sense of place and character.
More than anything, it serves to deepen the reader's understanding of the emotional importance and sensitivity of land ownership in South Africa. The family suffers the loss of well-loved and tended land at the hand of a racist government and its inhumane policies twice during the course of the tale with associated economic and emotional costs. The impact of these decisions are reflected in the on-going narrative on land ownership in South Africa.
Highly recommend it to anybody who wants to read a very well-written book that illustrates the complexity of the South African experience through the eyes of a lovely cast of characters.
December 27, 2018
Important South-african story
February 19, 2022
Historical fiction.
A simply written narration of a coloured family displaced due to the South African Apartheid laws. It is set in the George district of the Western Cape and the book opens in 1939.
Members of the Cape Coloured Corps recruited to fight in North Africa during WWII were promised their own land/ small farms as thanks for their efforts. However, as history shows, this never happened. The impact of this on one particular family is well explained. The historical facts and persons are true.
The ending of the book gave me goosebumps.
A simply written narration of a coloured family displaced due to the South African Apartheid laws. It is set in the George district of the Western Cape and the book opens in 1939.
Members of the Cape Coloured Corps recruited to fight in North Africa during WWII were promised their own land/ small farms as thanks for their efforts. However, as history shows, this never happened. The impact of this on one particular family is well explained. The historical facts and persons are true.
The ending of the book gave me goosebumps.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews