You Will Be Safe Here

by Damian Barr

South Africa, 1901: At the height of the Second Boer War, Sarah van der Watt and her son are taken from their farm by force to Bloemfontein Concentration Camp where, the English promise, they will be safe.

Johannesburg, 2010: Sixteen-year-old outsider Willem just wants to be left alone with his books and his dog. Worried he's not turning out right, his mother and her boyfriend send him to New Dawn Safari Training Camp. Here they “make men out of boys.” Guaranteed.

You Will Be Safe Here is a deeply moving novel of two connected parts. Inspired by real events, it uncovers a hidden colonial history and present-day darkness while exploring our capacity for cruelty and kindness.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Africa, South Africa, Historical, LGBT, War

353 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 14, 2019

About the author

I'm a writer and broadcaster. My books are 'The Two Roberts', 'You Will Be Safe Here' and 'Maggie & Me'.

'The Two Roberts' is my second novel. Meet Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun: artists, lovers, outsiders. From 1930s Glasgow to wartime London and the Fifties, this is the fictional story of two truly wild lives.

They were charismatic art celebrities - collected by major institutions, photographed by Vogue, filmed by Ken Russell for the BBC. But they lived as hard as they worked, dying young and penniless yet on the verge of a comeback.

Tender, bold and deeply personal, 'The Two Roberts' is a timely love-letter to these queer Scottish pioneers, exploring what it means to discover your voice as an artist, to find love when it’s forbidden and to change the way the world sees. Prepare to fall in love with Bobby and Robert…

'The Two Roberts' will be published by Canongate in September 2025.

'You Will Be Safe Here' is my first novel. It's set in South Africa in 1901 and now. It explores legacies of abuse, redemption and the strength of the human spirit - there is always, light even in our very darkest moments. I didn't imagine it would feel so urgent when it was published.

'South Africa, 1901, the height of the second Boer War. Sarah van der Watt and her son are taken from their farm by force to Bloemfontein Concentration Camp where, the English promise: they will be safe.

Johannesburg, 2010. Sixteen-year-old outsider Willem just wants to be left alone with his books and his dog. Worried he's not turning out right, his ma and her boyfriend send him to New Dawn Safari Training Camp. Here they 'make men out of boys'. Guaranteed.'

Inspired by real events, You Will Be Safe Here uncovers a hidden colonial history and present-day darkness while exploring our capacity for cruelty and kindness. Here's what two writers I admire say:

'Devastating and formally ingenious, it traces the paths by which historical grief engenders present violence . A vitally brave and luminously compassionate book.'
Garth Greenwell.

'Damian Barr has written a novel concerned with single strain of human history, of how a people are made and unmade and how they go on to make and unmake others, of the stories they tell themselves to allow such things to pass.' Aminatta Forna.

'Maggie & Me' is my memoir of surviving small-town Scotland in the Thatcher years. It won Sunday Times Memoir of the Year: "Full to the brim with poignancy, humour, brutality and energetic and sometimes shimmering prose, the book confounds one's assumptions about those years and drenches the whole era in an emotionally charged comic grandeur. It is hugely affecting."

BBC Radio 4 made it a Book of the Week. Stonewall named me Writer of the Year 2013. In 2024 I helped turn in into a play for the National Theatre of Scotland.

I've also co-written two plays for Radio 4 and written a short after play for their Fact to Fiction slot.

From 2008-2023, I ran my own Literary Salon - interviewing fellow writers, profiling indie bookshops and share all kinds of bookish content. Guests included: Jojo Moyes, John Waters, Mary Beard, Yaa Gyasi, David Nicholls, Colm Tóibín, Taiye Selasi, David Mitchell and Rose McGowan. www.theliterarysalon.co.uk

My life is books - writing them, talking about them on tv and radio and interviewing other writers about their literary loves. I present my own books tv show on BBC - check out The Big Scottish Book Club on BBC iPlayer. You can follow me on twitter @damian_barr and insta @mrdamianbarr.

I live by the sea in Brighton with my husband.

Reviews

[Roman Clodia · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and important story that dramatises parts of South Africa's troubled history through multiple generations of a Boer/Afrikaaner family. The first part is the strongest for me as a wife whose husband is fighting the British in the Second Boer War is placed in a British concentration camp with her young son.

Anyone who doesn't know about this particularly dark episode in Britain's brutal colonialist regime may well be shocked as well as enlightened. It's especially interesting to track our own emotional response as we're horrified by Sarah's plight - and yet simultaneously remember that the Afrikaaner Boers are themselves descended from Dutch colonialists who have killed, displaced and enslaved black native Africans. The Boer Wars were, ultimately, about who owned the gold and diamond mines of South Africa (barely mentioned in this book) and the capitalist struggle between white empires.

The second section is a stolid connector that links Sarah's story to later generations - it feels flat and 'told' after the intimacy of Sarah's camp diary - and there are some cheesy moments that link the family stories in too obvious and convenient a way.

Part three takes place in a post-Mandela, post-apartheid South Africa as key Boer Afrikaaners refuse to accept modernity and seek to reimpose a regime of white supremacy which gets tangled up with a form of toxic masculinity.

There are times where the politics of this book feel opaque. The writing can also be uneven: the immediacy of Sarah's diary is vivid and involving, the switch to third person in sections 2 and 3 less so. There's also something a bit too simplistic about the straight-line connections being made across history: (white) Afrikaaners were ill-treated by the (white) British and that led to them implementing and justifying apartheid? Hmm, the relationships between white colonialists and black Africans is more complicated than that...

All the same, this book takes a look at a part of history that is rarely fictionalized, and is worth reading for the camp diary alone: 3.5 stars.

Thanks to Bloomsbury for an ARC via NetGalley.

[Eric Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s especially exciting as a reader when I start a novel and immediately feel engrossed by the story. This is a difficult thing to accomplish because it’s not just the content that needs to grip me but the style and tone of the narrative have to confidently guide me into the fictional world being presented. But I did feel wholly inside the story of “You Will Be Safe Here” by Damian Barr starting with the prologue where a teenage boy named Willem is forcibly taken by his parents to a sinister institution in 2010 and this feeling continued into the first chapter when a woman named Sarah describes her fear at the sight of distant smoke in 1901 as she knows this means military forces are nearing her farm.

So begin the stories of two different South African individuals at opposite ends of a century. This immersive novel explores the egregious fact of British-run concentration camps during The Second Boer War and camps in the present day designed to toughen up white young South African men who are deemed too effeminate or soft. These institutions are prisons that go by different names because they are purportedly for their inhabitants’ safety and improvement, but they’re really a slow form of torture. Through their pernicious practices we see warring ideologies about what makes the South African national identity and the unfortunate individuals who are the casualties of this political battle. It’s a heartrending tale, but it’s filled with so many beautifully realized moments that I didn’t want to look away and could relate to these characters’ stories (even though they are far different from my own life.)

Read my full review of You Will Be Safe Here by Damian Barr on LonesomeReader

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a book that covers a factual event and this heart wrenching story does not disappoint, with its tale of the Boer War.

The story is told in 2 timelines 1901 and the current date. In 1901 Sarah Van der Watt and her son Fred live on a farm, her husband is away fighting. They are captured by the British who burn her farm down and take them to a concentration camp. The diary she secretly writes in the camp is heartbreaking, they were terribly treated, with starvation and disease commonplace.

In the present time Willem aged 16 is sent to the New Dawn Camp, his overbearing and aggressive step father thinks the camp will make a man out of him.

I found the two stories fascinating and loved how it all came together at the end. This is hard to read at times as the author tells the story in a very impactful and moving way. Being based on a true story bought this book to life for me and opened my eyes to the cruelty of this war.

This was such an interesting read for me as I can’t remember covering this in history and I finished this wanting to learn more. This will stay in my thoughts a long time after reading it.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 5 out of 5]

You Will Be Safe Here is a hard-hitting gut-punch of a novel telling the complex story of the Boer War, subsequent life in South Africa and the part the British government played in setting up concentration camps and perpetuating racism. The time it covers is about one-hundred years which could be tricky as it's a large span of time, but Barr manages to balance it beautifully. We would like to think that times have changed and this could no longer happen but is that really the case or are we kidding ourselves with history having been doomed to repeat itself. Who can be sure?

Our presence in this stunning country led to the adoption of what became known as a “scorched earth” policy which took those unwilling to sign a pledge of allegiance to the British Crown and evicted them from their homes placing them into internment camps. Heartbreakingly, this is a history that appears to be rarely spoken of in the West but given the implications, I guess it's entirely predictable why this important topic isn't covered in the British school curriculum. It's a poignant, heartfelt and emotional novel with a wonderful cast of characters whose wisdom and insight in the face of real adversity warms the heart and leaves you profoundly moved.

Many thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing for an ARC.

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will haunt me forever. My poor boy Willem. Am still grieving for another Willem. Now I have got two Willems to grieve for 🥲 my heart is breaking for them

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy reading books about my own country’s history. You Will Be Save Here tells two stories set in different timelines – 1901 and current. The second Boer War narrative felt very familiar, maybe because I’ve read quite a few books about this event. If you are interested in reading a book about the British scorched earth policy and concentration camps, I highly recommend Fees Van Die Ongenooides and The Lost History of Stars.

I found the second storyline, especially Willem’s POV much more compelling and interesting. I was unaware of the training camps for young boys run by Afrikaners who struggles to adjust to the new political situation. I felt for these young men who did not fit into society and were thrown into this horrible situation.

So although it was a quick, interesting read and although I agree that South Africa have a past and present filled with political issues and lots of violence, I think that the problems are much more complex and layered than presented in this novel.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 perhaps...

[Andrew H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Modern cookery is fond of deconstruction -- how to turn a staple (fish and chips, chicken curry) into something new by re-arranging its elements. The result is the triumph of art over culinary substance. You Will Be Safe Here is the literary equivalent. A basic story, a gay coming out fiction, is de-constructed into something with lots of intelligent pieces that do not hang together. The novel opens in the present, then switches into a Boer War narrative. A reader's interest in the opening, which is reminiscent of Moffie, becomes thwarted. Two well-told stories are linked by a question mark. After its return to the modern, the novel is told in reverse, slowly circling back through other people's lives until it arrives at its opening: a military camp, an act of violence against two gay young men and a criminal trial. Emotional impact is lost among the clever narrative and the final paralleling of the Boer War and modern warfare appears stretched. The novel's resolution relies upon a deus ex machina that is a narrative trick and somewhat unbelievable. The cavalry rides in! Personally, I wished that the narrative had been more direct. The novel aims at a massive idea, the historical dimension of prejudice and violence, but it arrives at its conclusions without much exploration of character. The central character is a mass of cliches -- pop songs and Harry Potter -- rather than emotional depth. Ultimately, I found myself tasting lots of parts, not savouring a whole.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel made you think of some of the South African history with 2 stories from the Boer war and the camps and early 21st century South Africa and the parallels between the both. the harshest points too

[Kathryn in FL · Rating 4 out of 5]

IMPRESSIVE, INTRICATE HISTORICAL ACCOUNT of Life in South Africa for the past 120 years.

Great stories, I wrote a full review but my stalkers deleted it as I completed it.

It is a worthy look on the impact of the Boer War on S. African whites held in the first concentration camps by the British. I did not realize that the black indigenous peoples were also imprisoned in concentration camps (the framework for Hitler's design) next to the white camps.

The second story is about a troubled young man sent to a military camp that is more than unorthodox and the suffering that takes place with no oversight. It is violent and troubling though very realistic.

Barr writes very readable stories. The characters weren't as developed as I prefer but that doesn't mean the story wasn't compelling. I found the history to be very well incorporated and I learned more about that regions history. Be sure to read the author's notes at the end. He did a tremendous amount of research and the stories read as though they were biographies.

Those in the U.S. may note some of the similarities/parallels of those people still "fighting" the "war of aggression" and the certain Boers decendents in the S. Africa of today.

Those who enjoyed "July's People" by Nadine Gordimer will probably enjoy this as well. I wish that my thorough review had not been erased by these perps, as I did a comparative of the two stories, one at 1901 and the other a recent present day story however, I am a bit overwhelmed when this happens. It is sad our government finds this type of harassment worthy of yours and my tax dollars. Thanks Uncle Sam.

[Andy Weston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very powerful and incisive novel linking South Africa’s past and present which at times is harrowing, and yet ultimately a rewarding read.
A large section at the start of the novel is set in 1901 during the second Boer War with a diary kept by a young Afrikaans woman. It’s an authentic re-creation of a grim period of history that is rarely taught in schools, or even discussed these days.
The remainder of the novel skips to the present day, where another mother makes a decision to send her troubled 16 year old son to a conversion camp for troubled boys.
Novels often run out of steam as they progress, but Barr’s story grows more engaging with every chapter. The characterisation of 16 year old Willem, a compassionate adolescent frightened by his world, and Rayna, his grandmother doing her best to support him, is particularly well done.
Though a probing study of politics and history, this is about the cruelty of humanity, and of selfish and brutal men.
Barr’s afterword gives further perspective into an astonishing piece of work by him that took 5 years to write.

Camps like New Dawn still operate across South Africa. They are for white boys only and run by former soldiers like the General who believe that one day white South Africa will rise again and finally right the historical wrongs of the Boer Wars. Parents pay to send their sons to these places hoping they will drill in the toughness and discipline formerly instilled by National Service (which ended in 1993). They want their sons to be able to survive in an increasingly violent society.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, it's been two days since I finished this book, and I still don't know how I am going to do it justice.

The story spans over 100 years in South Africa, from the second Boer War to post apartheid 2015. The main protagonists are an Afrikaans Boer wife and mother, who is taken to a concentration camp set up by the British (yes! that happened!) and a reserved, bookish teenage boy who is forced into a military style camp (dare we say conversion camp?!) by his misguided mother and brutish step father.

The way Barr connects these two seemingly separate narratives is touching and heart wrenching. I was fully immersed in the experience from the get go. There are multiple POV's within this story and occasionally it felt a bit jarring, but in such a capable author's hands, all is forgiven. I especially felt a connection to Willem (the teenage boy in 2010) and was so invested in his story that by the end I neglected my own children to finish the book.

This is a wonderful debut novel that left me heartbroken yet hopeful. It is shocking and compelling and I feel as though the characters will remain with me for some time. Bravo Mr. Barr!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having finished this book, I have struggled to rate and review it, as I found it a somewhat uneven read. It is set in three different periods – 1901, 1976 and 2010. The characters include a Boer farmer’s wife, Sarah, and her young son, who are captured by the British and find themselves in a concentration camp, and later descendents of hers, coping with a changing South Africa.

The author tells the history of a country, through these characters, and the first part of the novel, which involves Sarah’s diary, written to her husband, as she is forced to leave Mulberry Farm, is easily the most engaging. The British took everything, burning her beloved home to the ground, according to the ‘Scorched Earth’ policy, before shuttling Sarah, son Fred, and her neighbours, off to an internment camp. I had read something about this historical period before and were aware of these camps, which were the first to target a nation of people – although such camps had been used before, by the Spanish, for example. However, the author uses Sarah well, to explain what happened to a whole group of people, who were targeted and treated appallingly, with starvation and disease widespread.

In a way, the rest of the novel suffers a little, as the beginning is so vivid and immersive. I was moved by the story of Willem, sixteen years old, and sent to the New Dawn Camp, to make a man of him. His aggressive step-father, and obvious unhappiness, made the macho environment, he had to endure, difficult to read. However, the novel did flag a little in the middle for me. If you are interested in the history of South Africa, this will be of great interest to you and it would be a good choice for reading groups, as there is so much to discuss. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damian Barr deserves praise for this novel that blends dual narratives into a coherent whole that is historical, contemporary, topical, timeless, moving, suspenseful, informative and just pretend I have thrown a few more adjectives at you. Let us just take the adjective topical and break it down to sub-topics like concentration camps, child abuse, white supremacy, LBGTQ hate--they are all included here. Barr's prose is is utilized more in character development than poetic description and has just enough ellipsis to keep it interesting without frustrating the reader. The author makes clever choices that help engage the reader. For example, after a short prologue, the first section of the book is one chapter, not excessively long, which prompts the reader to absorb it all in one sitting. Having read this, the reader is now through one third of the book. The next two sections are divided into very short chapters which encourage the reader to continue reading just one more chapter before putting the book down, resulting in a fairly rapid pace to the finish. Authorial choices like that increased my enjoyment of the book. I hope this book gets some prize recognition this year. This is an author who deserves encouragement. Rounding up to five stars.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those beautiful books that you never want to end, but at the same time just can't stop reading. Stretching from 1901 to 2015 many of the characters are connected but not always in ways I expected. The story begins during the second Boer War with a young mother who is confined to a camp by the English. This is a time in history that I knew little about about so this novel has added greatly to my understanding of South African history, the horrors of war and the roots of apartheid. The writing is clever and a pleasure to read, and with lots of opportunities for readers to 'discover' links and connections (and so feel quite clever too!). The characters feel real and so easy to empathise with. Many of them are vulnerable yet still have an inner strength that you can't fail to admire. I also love the title, and all that the (often empty) promise that 'you will be safe here' implies. Highly recommended

[David Kenvyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a problem with this book. I find it very difficult to be sympathetic towards the Afrikaners, simply because of their deep and abiding racism. The two Afrikaner Republics came into existence because the British Parliament abolished slavery throughout the Empire in 1833, with the act coming into effect in 1836. This news was received with horror by the Afrikaner families living around Cape Town, because they did not want to free their numerous slaves. Under leaders like Jan Pretorius and Piet Retief, the Great Trek was organised into the interior of Africa, away from the reach of British law. There was no concern for the fact that they would be invading and dispossessing the indigenous peoples of their lands. [That of course was common to the colonial project throughout the world]. Those Afrikaners who did not take part in the Trek, and their descendants including PW Botha, are known to this day as Kaapse Verraiers (Cape Traitors). So, before either of the Boer Wars, the Afrikaners regarded themselves as the victims of British Imperialism, which they were, but they were also aggressors against the local African populations, dispossessing them from their land by force of arms, effectively stealing the land.
This is not to say that we should not be appalled by the way the civilian populations of the Transvaal and Orange Free State Republics were treated by the British army during the Second Boer War. Kitchener and the other generals waged war on the civilian population, in order to starve out the Boer commandos they were fighting. Tens of thousands of overwhelmingly women and children were rounded up into camps, which were called concentration camps, where they were not given adequate food, medicine, toilets, clothing nor soap. Unsurprisingly, there were typhoid epidemics. Lack of proper drainage from the latrines brought mosquitos, and mosquitos brought malaria and thousand died. There are two views of this: that it was deliberate policy, or that it was incompetence or arrogance. The result, of course, was the same, and it has poisoned the relations between Afrikaans- and English-speaking whites in South Africa ever since.
All this is an explanation of why I do not find many of the leading characters sympathetic. There are some however that definitely are.
At the start of the book we meet the sixteen-year-old Willem, who is probably gay and who is being sent by his step-father to a military style training camp, run by a fascist, as some kind of therapy treatment for his perceived softness. The story then switches back to the internment of Mrs Sarah van der Watt in the concentration camp at Bloemfontein, where she is keeping a secret diary of the horrors inflicted on her, her son Fred, her neighbour Mrs Kriel, her friend Helen and her black servants, Jakob and Lettie. There is no question about feeling sorry for these people. What the British army did to them was terrible, and thousands upon thousands died in what was undoubtedly a war crime.
We then move forward to March 1976, a fatal year in South African history, and meet Willem’s grandmother, Rayna. Not surprisingly, because this was true for many white South Africans, the Soweto uprising passed her by. She marries Pieter and has a child, Piet by another man. Rayna then has a daughter, Irma, and she in turn gives birth to Willem. Willem is the boy who is being forced to go to a military-style private training camp, by his step-father, Johan, who served under the General in the South African Defence Force (SADF).
[This is one thing that the fact-checkers have got wrong. The SANDF did not come into existence until after the first democratic elections held in South Africa in 1994. The apartheid army was called the SADF. No self-respecting racist such as Johan or the General would boast about being a member of the SANDF. This, however, does not matter, except to South Africa obsessives like me].
Damian Barr has pulled off one of the most difficult of literary devices. He makes someone like me, who spent the whole of my life opposing apartheid and its continuing effects, feel some sympathy for the characters.
Willem and the women and children in the Bloemfontein concentration camp are sympathetic characters. They are victims of what is happening around them. Rayna and Irma are less sympathetic. They are caught up in a situation in which they have no control and attempt to deal with it as best they can.
Johan and the General are outright racists, regarding themselves as victims and accepting no responsibility for their part in the apartheid crime against humanity. All they can think of is what happened to the Afrikaner women and children in the concentration camps (which, by the way, is what Kitchener called them) during the Second Boer War. It is no excuse for what they did to the African majority in their country in the century that followed.
This has been a difficult book for me to review, because I am hostile to the politics of the main characters. Even Willem, when grappling with his homosexuality, does not move beyond that to reject the racism inherent in his family’s attitudes.
What Damian Barr does kin this book is give us an examination of the psyche of a part of white South Africa. My experience of South Africa, which I have visited 15 time since 1993, tells me that this book is extraordinarily accurate.

[Jackie Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like many countries colonised by Europeans over the centuries, South Africa has a distressing history of entitlement leading to brutality. A population of disparate groups evolves, with each believing the land is rightfully theirs. War and political change lead to festering resentments passed down through generations. Inculcated prejudices can result in the dehumanisation of those considered other for a variety of reasons.

You Will Be Safe Here explores a number of such prejudices. It opens with a short prologue that introduces sixteen year old Willem Brandt as he is taken to a New Dawn Camp by his mother and her fiancé. They hope that the military style training regime will fix Willem, turning him into what they regard as a normal man.

The story then jumps back from 2010 to 1901. Written in the form of a diary, this section covers a month in the life of Sarah van der Watt whose husband is away fighting with Afrikaner commandos in the Second Boer War. The British army are trying to crush resistance to their occupation by rounding up Afrikaner families along with their slaves. Possessions are sifted through and confiscated before homes are burned to the ground. The people are loaded into trains and taken to segregated camps – the population thereby concentrated and contained. Knowing what is about to happen, Sarah and her six year old son, Fred, are preparing to leave the farm they have wrested from the veld.

Sarah is asked by the British soldiers to sign an oath of neutrality. In refusing she condemns herself to live in conditions that grow ever harsher. She will come to pay a heavy price for what she regards as necessary loyalty.

“I hate the Khakis but hand-uppers disgust me because they surrendered, they gave up the land we fought the Zulu for at Blood River. God cannot grant their prayers.”

The irony of her actions – that she considers the country that her forebears took and then cultivated with slave labour to be rightfully hers – doesn’t cross her mind.

Sarah’s diary offers a picture of day to day life in the camp. It is a stark portrayal of starvation, disease and death. The British may not have actively murdered their prisoners but in Bloemfontein they did as little as they could get away with to keep them alive. Over the course of this war, more civilians died in the British concentration camps than soldiers on the battlefield.

The second section of the story is set in Johannesburg, starting in 1976 when sixteen year old Rayna is assaulted on her way home from school and falls pregnant. In an attempt to avoid a scandal she quickly marries. The union is not a success and her husband leaves to work in the northern diamond mines. Financially supported and mostly left alone, Rayna quietly shuns societal conventions. Leaving her son with the home help, she finds work and then has a second child.

The timeline moves forward through the decades during which Rayna becomes a grandmother and the political situation in South Africa alters in ways she struggles to accept. There is a perception of encroaching violence resulting in the white population living behind walls and installing increasingly high tech security.

Meanwhile, the Afrikaner children choose to speak English when together – the language of their parents now associated with school.

The story enables the reader to better understand the differing backgrounds of contemporary white South Africans. Prejudices portrayed are not just based on race. The penultimate section, detailing Willem’s time at the New Dawn Camp, is a chilling indictment of homophobia. It also serves to pull each strand of the tale together.

The writing is deft and compelling, illuminating a terrible history with quiet competence and humanity. Despite their flawed thinking, their skewed sense of the ‘natural order’, the characters are presented with a degree of sympathy – as the product of a blinkered heritage.

The author writes:

“The Boer Wars (1880-81 and 1899-1902) are no longer taught in British or South African schools. They are now almost fondly remembered as a great Victorian adventure, the stuff of Boy’s Own stories.”

“Camps like New Dawn still operate across South Africa. They are for white boys only and run by former soldiers […] who believe that one day white South Africa will rise again and finally right the historic wrongs of the Boer Wars.”

It is horrifying to consider the cruelties so casually meted out in camps set centuries apart. Based on actual events, this story is both powerful and tragic. It offers a vital lesson in where prejudice can lead.

[Thebooktrail · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing novel and one I had no idea was based on true stories. It's heartbreaking but very insightful and important to read and learn about.

I don’t think I have felt so humbled, embarrassed, horrified and speechless plus a whole other range of emotions at the same time.

This is a debut novel and the author’s passion, determination to have this story told, give the victims their voices. During the second Boer war in 1900, the British army set up concentration camps in South Africa. People were brought here taken from their farms and homes by force. Husbands are away fighting so many of those in the camp are women and children. I could smell the heat on the tarpaulin, hear the screams from the camp and I could almost see the fear on the faces of those trapped here. Chapters set here felt raw, visceral midst the struggle for survival.

Fast forward to 1947 and more recent times of course, yet the scenes of tragedy are still there, albeit in a different form. These camps are now ones to help ‘boys become men’ or in other words, camps where young gay men are ‘helped’ to become straight. Mothers bring their sons to change them, make them fit better into a world they think exists. I don’t think I’ve ever felt the horror at reading something and then realising that this is recent, real life history. This is tough to understand, to read the words that seem to stab your eyes as you do so, but it’s vital to learn about the two levels of brutality, separated across decades, that went on in such places.

The title is poignant. It means so much and delivers everything about the novel is those simple five words. The scope of the novel is ambitious and inspiring yet it goes further still. The time of apartheid is here with its clear lines between black and white clearly marked across society. Just when you think there is no more emotion that the author can wrangle from you, there is. The original inhabitants of the country are not respected and what’s more, are persecuted. Throughout the novel, the writer never flinches from the truth, however painful it might be. Words are weapons here and each one hits its target.

A novel which is a painful scar on our history. One that is still,sadly relevant today however. Bullies and those who feel superior think they can control other people. Money talks, and power talks. What was that famous phrase about power corrupting and absolute power corrupting absolutely? What are we and who are we, if we stand aside and do nothing?

An explosive read. Gripping and raw. Essential reading.

Visit the locations and read about the story behind the history of the story here

[The Nerd Daily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published on The Nerd Daily | Review by Sowmya Gopi

Ever read a book that grips you for story so much that even after you turn the last page, the story keeps evolving further in your head? Well, that’s what this book does, it leaves your mind reeling. The title of the book is “You Will Be Safe Here”, words set in between bared wires on the cover and it’s a simple message that will lead you to an intense, horrendous, and captivating tale and will make you wonder is anyone really safe?

In the beginning of the story, it’s 2014 and we meet Willem, who is about to enter a correctional camp for teenagers run by an AWB supporter in South Africa. Then we move to the time of the second Boer War in 1901 where we meet Sarah and her young son, Fred, who are forced from their home and told they’ll be safe at the Bloemfontein Concentration Camp. How their stories are interlinked with each other is what forms the twists in the story.

This book is inspired by real events and it is somehow both chilling and touching. The characters within the modern-day story are particularly unlikable due to the casual racism they indulge in.

Within the novel, we follow the lives of these characters in different times. In 1901, a farmer’s wife Sarah writes a diary for her soldier husband, off to fight the British in the Boer War. Sarah and her son, Fred, see their farm razed to the ground by the British before being evicted and transported to the ‘safe place’ of the title. In reality, this is an internment camp as brutal as the later Nazi concentration camps. Although the Boers felt oppressed by the British, they themselves had, of course, subjugated the Kaffirs for generations.

Our more modern storyline begins in Johannesburg in 1976, during the time of apartheid. Rayna, struggles to bring up her daughter Irma and son Piet, while her husband works up north in the mines. This leads on to her daughter’s story and that of her son, Willem, in the 1990s through to the 21st century.

The final chapters show the links between the two parts and it pulls all the threads together in a satisfying, but disturbing way. There is so much history in this book, in a place that is little known about. This gripping tale will shock you, surprise you, and disturb you, but it most definitely won’t disappoint you.

[Adele Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow!! I weren't expecting to be gripped by this book but I was.
Thank you Damien Barr for bringing awareness of the atrocities of the Boer war and also the recent history of Concentration Camps that still exist in the world today.

[bookish_emmxx · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

(corrected to read better - April 2024).

I find I am unable to review this book because both the stories it tells, that of the concentration camps for Boer families run by the British during the the Boer War and what happened to Raymond Buys in a different kind of camp, which was as awful as the original concentration camps, are honest, accurate and painful. To criticize the book is to criticise the reality of what went on and in no way should the reality of the horrors of those two stories be diminished. But while the author has not done a disservice to those two stories I do not think it is a very good novel because it is not written well nor with any real depth of character. It describes what happened in gruesome horrible detail but a purely visceral reaction doesn't mean a novel has communicated something. I am sorry this novel is a failure as literature.

[John Hatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amazing book is everything its cover says it is — powerful, astonishing, devastating, beautiful — descriptions by people far more qualified than I to evaluate it, and much, much more. It is one of the best books I have read this year, or any other year. It is a fictional story based on a history virtually unknown to most of us. I find it impossible to write more without including “spoilers”.

[Anna Baillie-Karas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! I expected it to be bleak but it has some wonderful, uplifting, strong women characters and I learnt much about South Africa, the Boer War and its aftermath. Written from interesting perspectives - a mother in a concentration camp, a teenage boy & a single mother. There’s an undercurrent of violence & the tension builds. A great ear for dialogue and characters written with care & compassion. Recommended.

[Joanna Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This was a beautifully written, haunting book which will stay with me for a long time.

I didn’t know much about South African history so I found it fascinating to learn more about it now. The realisation that the British created the idea of a concentration camp was a sobering one, especially as you realise the events written about in this book could have actually happened to people. It made me feel quite sick whilst I read about the appalling conditions there and feel the desperation of Sarah as she tries to protect her son.

In the more recent timeline we follow Willem who is struggling with a mother who is trying to change who he is as she thinks he’s too soft. I felt desperately sorry for Willem who seemed such a lovely boy and just wanted to reach into the book and give him a huge cuddle, while also giving his mother a hard talking to. His friendship with Geldenhuys was lovely to read about and helped add some light relief to the story.

The author does a great job of setting the scene in this book with the vivid descriptions making me feel that I was right there experiencing everything alongside the characters. I even felt at times that I could smell things the way they would, particularly in the concentration camp which I think is proof of how well this book is written. The author manages to include the African dialogue and some of their culture into the story which further helps the reader envision the country the story is set in.

Overall I thought this was a fantastically written, compelling story that explores Africa’s rich and dramatic history. It is quite a sad story but it’s also an important one as a lot of the issues and prejudices discussed are sadly still happening in the world. It’s definitely a story that will deeply effect the reader and stay with you for a long time.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Bloomsbury for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

[Krutika · Rating 5 out of 5]

You will be safe here.
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Thank you for this copy @bloomsburyindia and @mrdamianbarr.
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"In the water, in the dark. It doesn’t matter whose fingers find whose toes. Nobody can see. The stars are saying nothing." - Damian Barr.
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I had often heard the term 'Boer War' but I never tried to educate myself about it. I'll forever be thankful for this book in teaching me so many important things related to that horrible time of 1901 when humanity was dead. When the British waged war over South African Republic and the Orange Free State, thousands of innocents were murdered and tortured. You will be safe here is a historical fiction that explains in detail about the concentration camps that Boers were put into by the British after they scorched all the farms.
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The story is split into three timelines - 1901, 1976 and 2010. The first part talks about a Boer woman, Sarah Van Der Watt who is put into the camp with her six year old son and neighbours. Sarah maintains a diary in which she notes down the horrors of the camp where people died like flies everyday. She addresses all of those to her husband who is out fighting the war. She talks about the poisoned meat, lack of medicines, lack of sanitary facility and everything that turned people into a weaker form of themselves. The second part talks about a woman Rayna who has two children out of wedlock and raises them as a single mother. The third talks about her daughter Irma who struggles to love her son, Willem.
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Willem was born kind and beautiful. He was soft and was often called gay for being himself. His mother's boyfriend sends him over to a camp by the name New Dawn run by a General who promises to turn guys into men. My heart broke into two when I read Willem's story. The atrocity of the rules implied by the General is horrible. Per the author's note, such camps are still in existence and it pains me to know that kids are still being sent into those for training. All the three stories are interlinked and this was my favourite part. It was very intelligent on the author's part to come up with something so educational and yet such an engaging read.
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This one is for all the people who love History.
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4.5/5.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea that concentration camps existed during the Boer Wars in South Africa, I had no idea that so many people had been mistreated and ruined at that time, people who were just living their lives and struggling in a harsh environment. In the first section of the book we meet Sarah, struggling to cope as she is interred with her young son into a concentration camp run by the British, her husband is off fighting and their farm has been razed to the ground as part of the scorched earth policy. Sarah is the first link in the chain of this story which travels through time in South Africa from then to 2015. The characters are all linked by family lines and their stories all show something of how the history of a country forms attitudes and social norms all the way through to now. Sarah's diary of her time in Bloemfontein Camp is horrific, so much so that I wandered off to search for confirmation of the conditions and discovered the most ghastly photographs.

Many years later we meet Rayna and Irma and Willem Sarah's descendants in a new South Africa, where the laws have changed, where violence is increasing and where social order has been disrupted. Not everyone is comfortable with the new ways, the abolition of Apartheid and the changing expectations of how the black people are to be treated. The uncomfortable transition to equality is hard to read. The author has done a wonderful job of making you feel every side of the situation. He drew me into the characters world and made me understand their points of view, although it is uncomfortable reading at times, it is hard to deal with such views from this corner of the world. The creeping menace of the ever growing walls to keep the bad guys out, at the same time as keeping the world and your connection to it out.

Willem is so beautifully written, his fragility and sensitivity juxtaposed against his mother's partner the awful Jans. Willem's mother Irma, torn between the new bloke in her life and her son who she doesn't really understand and whom to her mind seems to be lacking something. Thank goodness for Rayna, the grandmother who loves this sensitive boy sincerely, and who ultimately is his saviour. "Know, she didn't know. No, she didn't know. Know, if only she'd known."

This book is a lot! There is so much depth, it has the most beautiful moments amongst the heartbreak and terror. Along the reading journey with this book, not only the terrible history of torture and struggle, I've thought about Willem and the others like him, struggling in a harsh society, the terror of their lives, the fear and the trying not to be noticed. The pain of knowing you don't quite fit with everyone else and trying to disappear. All of this is written so beautifully. I'll be thinking about this novel for a long time, my poor heart will need to recover.

Bravo Damian, you've written a gem of a book and I am so delighted about that as a reader and as a cheerleader.

[Kiwiflora · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author is a British columnist, playwright and writer. He has a NZ connection, last year receiving a University of Otago Scottish Writer's fellowship based at the Pah Homestead in Auckland. I wonder if this is where he put the finishing touches to this outstanding novel. He says on his website he is a story teller, and oh my goodness, he certainly knows how to tell a story, weaving fact into fiction, creating characters and a story that will stay with you long after reading.

The setting for this novel is another sad chapter in British colonial history - the Boer War of 1899-1902. I wonder how many times people are ashamed of the history they have come from, because this is certainly a shameful time, with the forced incarceration of thousands of Boer women and children into what were the first concentration camps, and which were the blueprints for the Nazis in the 1930s. The novel opens with Sarah van der Watt and her 6 year old son Fred being taken from their farm which is burnt to the ground in front of their eyes, to a camp where they are told they will be safe, well looked after and cared for during the course of the war. Like that is going to happen. The reality of course is quite different, awful really. Sarah manages to keep a diary, forbidden by the camp officials, over the months she is there. In reality, there was a woman who did manage to keep a diary during her internment and this part of the novel is based on those writings.

Part II of the novel has moved to the present day - 2010. A teenage boy, Willem, is being sent off to a training camp, to be made into a man. He is a quiet boy, loves his books and his dog. But his mother and her new man are finding him increasingly difficult to get on with, so see this as the only way to fix him. His grandmother is dismayed at what is going on, but has little say in the matter. The camp is an appalling place, run by a pair of sadists. It takes a while for the connections to be made between the present and the past, but it just goes to show one can never run away from the happenings of years previous. Again, much of this part of the novel is based on fact. These training camps did exist, the character of Willem and another boy are based as well as the camp leaders on real people. You can google all this - names etc are given in the acknowledgements section at the back.

This is an outstanding book, powerful in its story telling, compelling and believable characters, dealing with shocking situations. The characters may all be based on real people, long since dead, but the author has made them so life like and real - such a skill. I loved this book, and despite its subject matter, it is definitely a favourite recent read.

[Bram · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd heard a lot of good things about You Will Be Safe Here and was worried that I might be disappointed when I finally got to read it. How wrong I was! Harrowing in what it depicts but beautiful in the way it does so, this exceeded my expectation. A morally complex window into silenced histories (I knew only a little about the Boer Wars and nothing about the SA Conversion Camps), in which Barr avoids the temptation to tie up loose ends for the sake of comforting the reader. Great book, brilliantly executed.

[Natasha Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I wouldn’t like this, I don’t know much about South African history and it was a little slow at first but I slowly got drawn in and really got engrossed in the story.
I kept wondering whilst reading as to how these stories link up. I thought I had missed something. They do link up.
It was a harsh, interesting read and I would highly recommend.