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Babette
’n Aangrypende roman oor 'n sterk en besonderse vrou. Babette Donker het nie vergeet hoe haar stiefma haar behandel het nie, en wanneer sy terugkeer na die plaas naby Lijdenburg, nadat sy jare by haar ouma in die Kaap gewoon het, is dit met 'n plan.
Maar dan sterf haar pa en werk dinge nie uit soos sy verwag het nie, want sy moet die boerdery oorneem.
Die liefde wat boonop onverwags ontvlam tussen haar en Antoine, ’n boer van die omgewing, word ’n verterende passie wat niks ontsien nie, en bring ’n groter verskeurdheid in ’n jong vrou wat reeds haarself moes verhard teen die sagter dinge in die lewe. Van verbete jong meisie groei Babette tot ’n vrou wat baie moet opoffer.
Maar dan sterf haar pa en werk dinge nie uit soos sy verwag het nie, want sy moet die boerdery oorneem.
Die liefde wat boonop onverwags ontvlam tussen haar en Antoine, ’n boer van die omgewing, word ’n verterende passie wat niks ontsien nie, en bring ’n groter verskeurdheid in ’n jong vrou wat reeds haarself moes verhard teen die sagter dinge in die lewe. Van verbete jong meisie groei Babette tot ’n vrou wat baie moet opoffer.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
3 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Jeanette Ferreira
19 books6 followersJeanette Ferreira
Biographical info
Jeanette Ferreira was born on 20 April 1954 near Tzaneen. She completed her schooling at the Merensky Agricultural High School and later obtained BA Honours and MA degrees at the University of Pretoria and a PhD at Rhodes University (under the guidance of André P. Brink).
She lectured Afrikaans literature at the University of the North, the University of Zululand and Vista University. In 1988 and 1989 she was chairperson of the Afrikaans Writers' Guild.
After her academic career she worked in publishing for 10 years as editor and publisher. She is currently a freelance editor. She has written and compiled several books in a variety of genres, and is particularly known for her popular Anglo-Boer War novels: Babette, Catharina and Charlotta. She lives in Pretoria.
Did you know?
· Her novella Sitate om ’n rewolusie was translated into English (Footnotes on a Revolution) by André Brink, but was never published.
· In 1989 she was a member of the South African delegation of cultural representatives that met with the ANC abroad under the auspices of Idasa.
· Jeanette chooses a piece of music that she listens to continually when she writes a book. For Charlotta it was Oh, virgin of the angel host, sung by the Caerphilly Male Voice Choir.
· In 1999 Babette was adapted into a musical in English that was staged by the RAU Cultural Office. The music critic Paul Boekkooi described it as “an impressive musical love story, a production that should not be missed by enthusiasts of musicals”.
Author bookshelf
Nuwe stories (compiler, Tafelberg, 2012)
Boereoorlogstories 2, (compilerTafelberg, 2012)
Boereoorlogstories, (compiler, Tafelberg, reissue, 2011)
Die son kom aan die seekant op, Human & Rousseau (2007)
Awards
Die Transvaler’s short story competition (1982)
List of titles
Prose
1985 Sitate om ’n rewolusie (novella)
1989 Die mammies, die pappies, die hondjies, die katjies (short stories)
1994 Daardie eerste somer (love story)
1994 Bly by my vannag (love story)
1995 Die onsterflikes (science fiction)
1995 Babette (novel)
1996 Catharina (novel)
1998 ’n Man soos Charles (love story)
1999 Charlotta (novel)
2002 Diepwater (novel)
2007 Die son kom aan die seekant op (novel)
Poetry
1980 Waar een mens saam is
Literary theory
1985 Breyten, die simbool daar
Compiler
1998 Boereoorlogstories (New edition 2011)
1999 Liefde loop ver
2001 Kruis en dwars
2005 Op hulle stukke
2012 Boereoorlogstories 2
2012 Nuwe stories
Biographical info
Jeanette Ferreira was born on 20 April 1954 near Tzaneen. She completed her schooling at the Merensky Agricultural High School and later obtained BA Honours and MA degrees at the University of Pretoria and a PhD at Rhodes University (under the guidance of André P. Brink).
She lectured Afrikaans literature at the University of the North, the University of Zululand and Vista University. In 1988 and 1989 she was chairperson of the Afrikaans Writers' Guild.
After her academic career she worked in publishing for 10 years as editor and publisher. She is currently a freelance editor. She has written and compiled several books in a variety of genres, and is particularly known for her popular Anglo-Boer War novels: Babette, Catharina and Charlotta. She lives in Pretoria.
Did you know?
· Her novella Sitate om ’n rewolusie was translated into English (Footnotes on a Revolution) by André Brink, but was never published.
· In 1989 she was a member of the South African delegation of cultural representatives that met with the ANC abroad under the auspices of Idasa.
· Jeanette chooses a piece of music that she listens to continually when she writes a book. For Charlotta it was Oh, virgin of the angel host, sung by the Caerphilly Male Voice Choir.
· In 1999 Babette was adapted into a musical in English that was staged by the RAU Cultural Office. The music critic Paul Boekkooi described it as “an impressive musical love story, a production that should not be missed by enthusiasts of musicals”.
Author bookshelf
Nuwe stories (compiler, Tafelberg, 2012)
Boereoorlogstories 2, (compilerTafelberg, 2012)
Boereoorlogstories, (compiler, Tafelberg, reissue, 2011)
Die son kom aan die seekant op, Human & Rousseau (2007)
Awards
Die Transvaler’s short story competition (1982)
List of titles
Prose
1985 Sitate om ’n rewolusie (novella)
1989 Die mammies, die pappies, die hondjies, die katjies (short stories)
1994 Daardie eerste somer (love story)
1994 Bly by my vannag (love story)
1995 Die onsterflikes (science fiction)
1995 Babette (novel)
1996 Catharina (novel)
1998 ’n Man soos Charles (love story)
1999 Charlotta (novel)
2002 Diepwater (novel)
2007 Die son kom aan die seekant op (novel)
Poetry
1980 Waar een mens saam is
Literary theory
1985 Breyten, die simbool daar
Compiler
1998 Boereoorlogstories (New edition 2011)
1999 Liefde loop ver
2001 Kruis en dwars
2005 Op hulle stukke
2012 Boereoorlogstories 2
2012 Nuwe stories
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 12, 2015
Babette is sent to live with her grandmother in the Cape Colony, after her mother passed away and her stepmother becomes her abuser. After completing her school career, and on her way to France to continue her studies in music and singing, she returns to the farm near Lijdenburg in the northern parts of South Africa to visit her father for the last time before she settled down in Europe.
Upon arriving on the farm, she finds her father severely ill from the "Lowveld fever"(Malaria). What she planned as a revenge visit, turned into a journey of heartbreak and sorrow, when her father passes away, and she is left to keep the promise she made on his deathbed to look after her stepmother and two stepsisters on the farm.
With her dreams shattered and revenge not as sweet as she hoped for, she settles down as a farmer - a very hard-working farmer. Soon she is courted by a neighbor, which she knew since she was a young girl, but she is not interested in getting married. But fate had a different way of teaching her lessons in real love, commitment, loyalty and perseverance. She has to make choices that nobody ever saw coming.
The Anglo-Boer War(now known as the South African war) of 1899 - 1902 breaks out. Her surviving loved ones have to leave and fight the British. And she would have to survive and try to help everyone else. Bitterness, forgiveness and new beginnings are the reasons why everyone involved in this brutal, terribly cruel war, can pick up their lives and start over.
This is one of the most emotionally-packed novels I have ever read. A beautiful, unbelievable journey through a young woman's life and the consequences of the choices she made. As historical fiction it contains all the elements which guarantee an unforgettable, informative experience.
The story is much similar to Gone With The Wind written by Margaret Mitchell. Although love plays a major role, the events surrounding the two people played a bigger role. It is written with so much gracefulness and quiet dignity. It is quite few steps above chic-lit, but endearing enough to not turn into a crude report of death and damnation. She also learns what love really mean in its many different manifestations. When she arrives back on the farm from the concentration camp, she finds her piano, hidden in a cave by her nanny, and when she starts to play, she starts to sing, for the first time since she returned to the farm from school, and can feel the rebirth of hope in the hearts of the survivors around her. Hope adds a different, a bright new, color to their rainbow, or what was left of it.
I wish it could be translated into English. It should be done. The author managed to tell an in-depth, detailed account of the war and the young woman's life within 395 pages. The prose was touching. Absolute brilliant book!
Upon arriving on the farm, she finds her father severely ill from the "Lowveld fever"(Malaria). What she planned as a revenge visit, turned into a journey of heartbreak and sorrow, when her father passes away, and she is left to keep the promise she made on his deathbed to look after her stepmother and two stepsisters on the farm.
With her dreams shattered and revenge not as sweet as she hoped for, she settles down as a farmer - a very hard-working farmer. Soon she is courted by a neighbor, which she knew since she was a young girl, but she is not interested in getting married. But fate had a different way of teaching her lessons in real love, commitment, loyalty and perseverance. She has to make choices that nobody ever saw coming.
The Anglo-Boer War(now known as the South African war) of 1899 - 1902 breaks out. Her surviving loved ones have to leave and fight the British. And she would have to survive and try to help everyone else. Bitterness, forgiveness and new beginnings are the reasons why everyone involved in this brutal, terribly cruel war, can pick up their lives and start over.
This is one of the most emotionally-packed novels I have ever read. A beautiful, unbelievable journey through a young woman's life and the consequences of the choices she made. As historical fiction it contains all the elements which guarantee an unforgettable, informative experience.
The story is much similar to Gone With The Wind written by Margaret Mitchell. Although love plays a major role, the events surrounding the two people played a bigger role. It is written with so much gracefulness and quiet dignity. It is quite few steps above chic-lit, but endearing enough to not turn into a crude report of death and damnation. She also learns what love really mean in its many different manifestations. When she arrives back on the farm from the concentration camp, she finds her piano, hidden in a cave by her nanny, and when she starts to play, she starts to sing, for the first time since she returned to the farm from school, and can feel the rebirth of hope in the hearts of the survivors around her. Hope adds a different, a bright new, color to their rainbow, or what was left of it.
I wish it could be translated into English. It should be done. The author managed to tell an in-depth, detailed account of the war and the young woman's life within 395 pages. The prose was touching. Absolute brilliant book!
July 8, 2019
50th book of 2019 and 3rd ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ this year.
Sjoe!! Wat 'n reis!!!
Aan die begin het ek gedink: nog 'n tipiese verhaal van verbode liefde, maar geskryf met die agtergrond van die 2de Vryheidsoorlog/ Anglo-Boere-oorlog of deesdae "The South Africa War".
Maar 'Babette' het uitgedraai as soveel meer.
Dis 'n interessante en insiggewende historiese roman wat baie goed nagevors is.
Dit begin 'n paar dekades voor die oorlog en sluit af net na die Vrede van Vereniging.
Ek het met dele hardop gelag maar was ook meegesleur deur Babette se lot, haar passies en haar onwrikbare hoop.
Hier teen die einde het die trane vryelik geloop (nie vir die eerste keer nie...).
Sjoe!! Wat 'n reis!!!
Aan die begin het ek gedink: nog 'n tipiese verhaal van verbode liefde, maar geskryf met die agtergrond van die 2de Vryheidsoorlog/ Anglo-Boere-oorlog of deesdae "The South Africa War".
Maar 'Babette' het uitgedraai as soveel meer.
Dis 'n interessante en insiggewende historiese roman wat baie goed nagevors is.
Dit begin 'n paar dekades voor die oorlog en sluit af net na die Vrede van Vereniging.
Ek het met dele hardop gelag maar was ook meegesleur deur Babette se lot, haar passies en haar onwrikbare hoop.
Hier teen die einde het die trane vryelik geloop (nie vir die eerste keer nie...).
December 2, 2009
Excellent
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews