Running Dogs & Rose's Children: An African memoir

by Eric George de Jong

Eric de Jong and his wife, Jenny plunged into parenthood when they adopted three siblings from the children's dying mother. The new family set about living happily ever after in their rambling farmhouse outside Harare. But ever after proved short lived as Zimbabwe's small window of stability closed in on them quickly when Robert Mugabe unleashed a war on white farmers and opposition party members, launching an era of economic, social and political turmoil which eventually saw the family fleeing the country for fear of being killed.

Eric well knew the cost of conflict, but his fierce love of his country and his principles saw him immersing himself in the dangerous opposition politics of the day where elections were rigged and fellow party members were tortured and murdered.

Eric de Jon's irrepressible sense of humour bubbles throughout this absorbing, honest and deeply personal account of a growing family, of love, entrepreneurial success and failure, mental illness, political exile, and the distressing and often absurd collapse of a beautiful African country and stoicism of its people.

549 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 25, 2020

Reviews

[Brenda Bonine · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Running Dogs and Rose's Children" creates a humorous but also touching memoir of De Jong's life experiences in Zimbabwe and South Africa. The focus is primarily on life in post-independence Zimbabwe. A lot happens, both because of the time period in history involved and because De Jong has had a busy, active life with a wide range of life experiences. But it is his sense of humor and irony in often very challenging circumstances that made this a really powerful read for me. His compassion and care for a just society are evident. Particularly if one is Zimbabwean or has spent a significant amount of time there, this book will be an interesting if not downright compelling read.

[Melanie Low]

What a life.

Brave man. Tells it like it was. No political correctness. No racism. Just his life experience.
Way beyond what most of us know. I live in South Africa, and spent 7 years of my youth in Zimbabwe from 1966 to 1973.