What do you think?
Rate this book
Ougat: From a hoe into a housewife and then some
By the time Shana Fife is 25 she has two kids from different fathers. To the coloured people she grew up around, she is a jintoe, a jezebel, jas, a woman with mileage on the p*ssy. She is alone, she has no job and, as she is constantly reminded by her family, she is pretty much worthless and unloveable. How did she become this woman, the epitome of everything she was conditioned to strive not to be?
Unsettlingly honest and brutally blunt, Ougat is Shana Fife’s story of survival: of surviving the social conditioning of her Cape Flats community, of surviving sexual violence and depression, and of ultimately escaping a cycle of abuse. Exploring themes of sexuality, marriage and motherhood, rape, drugs and depression and cultural identity, Shana describes – with the self-deprecating humour her followers love so much – what it means to be a coloured woman, who gives coloured womanhood meaning and, ultimately, how surviving life as a coloured woman means being OK with giving a giant ‘f*ck you’ to the norm.
A powerful, fresh and disarming new voice – Shana’s writing is like nothing you’ve read before.
Unsettlingly honest and brutally blunt, Ougat is Shana Fife’s story of survival: of surviving the social conditioning of her Cape Flats community, of surviving sexual violence and depression, and of ultimately escaping a cycle of abuse. Exploring themes of sexuality, marriage and motherhood, rape, drugs and depression and cultural identity, Shana describes – with the self-deprecating humour her followers love so much – what it means to be a coloured woman, who gives coloured womanhood meaning and, ultimately, how surviving life as a coloured woman means being OK with giving a giant ‘f*ck you’ to the norm.
A powerful, fresh and disarming new voice – Shana’s writing is like nothing you’ve read before.
220 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 23, 2021
7 people are currently reading
98 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 - 28 of 28 reviews
July 29, 2021
If you've been following me for a while, you'll know I never read non-fiction and have never shown much interest in it. However, a few months ago while scrolling through social media, a book titled Ougat immediately caught my attention, mostly due to the Capetonian meaning of the word. I went on to read the blurb and knew this was something I needed to read.(gifted: @jonathanballpublishers)
This book is so well and authentically written - I loved reading a book written in Cape Town tongue - at times it felt more like I was listening to a close friend open up to me about her story, than reading a memoir written by an author I have never met. I have shamefully not read a lot of SA books and it was so refreshing reading a book based in Cape Town and recognising names of places and suburbs where I've actually been before.
This memoir covers some really heavy subjects such as the emotional, mental, physical and sexual abuse Shana went through from a young age, as well as the lasting effects it can have on one's mental health and future relationships. Shana opens up about her life experience as a Coloured female with blunt and raw details and she does not sugar coat anything. She also highlights the differences in the way boys and girls are raised from a young age and how this affects everything, including relationships, later in life.
There were times where Shana's sarcasm and wit had me giggling to myself at 1:30am, just to turn the page to have my heart broken or to feel shocked to my core for the things she has had to live through. And she did. Bravely. And I am so proud of her for that. I truly have so much respect for her for making it through everything and also for writing this memoir for herself, for women in similar situations, for Coloured women and for all women.
Thank you Shana. Not only for being brave enough to share your story and speaking up for yourself, but also for speaking and standing up for SO many others, who are not yet brave enough to do so. I wish you nothing but happiness and healing in your future, you truly deserve nothing less.
July 24, 2021
I'm coming onto your screens today with another book review. I was tempted to just give three lines urging everyone to go and grab the book (which is what I'd basically be saying) and keep it moving but I thought I should exercise my thumbs a bit.
Shana Fife stripped naked and allowed us a glimpse into the dark crevices that was her life. I can imagine her memoir in parts reading like your own memory. I crinched in some parts as I recalled a memory of my own and paused in others as I tried to compose myself (I took my sweet time reading). It made me realise how easy it was to pretend something didn't happen, to just shove it in a box with your many other skeletons, tape it shut and throw it somewhere where memory goes to die. Only to resurrect from a text about someone else's life🙄. A reminder that you're smart but clearly not relationship smart - I'm not about to write nothing.
I'm here now, I've read the book and I'm thankful for a partner who is now fairly accustomed to my random rants based on my current reads. I've "burped" it out of my chest.
This was a needed insight into a coloured woman's life - a realisation that woman is the same irregardless of race (a cemented fact) - because I've never read anything from a coloured perspective before. I appreciate the author for not holding back. She wrote her truth which will help and inspire other women to clean out the skeletons and move on however hard it might be.
I posted a clip on my insta stories mentioning how I hoped the future generation of females never has to have a story to tell about a man being abusive or how they took him back after the fact. That curse has to end.
These are the kind of books we need in high school to teach the teenagers about everything including consent. Everything you can think of that could go wrong in a relationship/human interaction is captured in this book. Let's discuss our reality. Replace Othello with Ougat.
This is by far my favourite South African memoir.
Thank you again @jonathanballpublishers for this #gifted review copy
Shana Fife stripped naked and allowed us a glimpse into the dark crevices that was her life. I can imagine her memoir in parts reading like your own memory. I crinched in some parts as I recalled a memory of my own and paused in others as I tried to compose myself (I took my sweet time reading). It made me realise how easy it was to pretend something didn't happen, to just shove it in a box with your many other skeletons, tape it shut and throw it somewhere where memory goes to die. Only to resurrect from a text about someone else's life🙄. A reminder that you're smart but clearly not relationship smart - I'm not about to write nothing.
I'm here now, I've read the book and I'm thankful for a partner who is now fairly accustomed to my random rants based on my current reads. I've "burped" it out of my chest.
This was a needed insight into a coloured woman's life - a realisation that woman is the same irregardless of race (a cemented fact) - because I've never read anything from a coloured perspective before. I appreciate the author for not holding back. She wrote her truth which will help and inspire other women to clean out the skeletons and move on however hard it might be.
I posted a clip on my insta stories mentioning how I hoped the future generation of females never has to have a story to tell about a man being abusive or how they took him back after the fact. That curse has to end.
These are the kind of books we need in high school to teach the teenagers about everything including consent. Everything you can think of that could go wrong in a relationship/human interaction is captured in this book. Let's discuss our reality. Replace Othello with Ougat.
This is by far my favourite South African memoir.
Thank you again @jonathanballpublishers for this #gifted review copy
July 2, 2021
This book was crazy good. I enjoyed every word and cannot wait to see what’s next for this author. There are some truly great lines to look out for - I laughed, I cried, I cheered and I grieved. It was phenomenal. Highly recommend it.
July 15, 2021
Firstly I have to say that I love reading books and memoirs written by South African authors and when I saw Ougat for the first time, I knew I had to get my hands on it immediately.
It is written by local Capetonian, Shana Fife. Being from Cape Town myself, this book was extremely easy to relate to, but not always in a good way. You have to face some harsh realities about the way coloured females were and are still treated to this day. It’s difficult to express the emotions I felt when Shana mentioned Southfield and St. Anne’s Primary (The suburb in which I grew up and the primary school I attended when I was in grades 6 and 7 after also being removed from another primary school in a less well off area) I actually ran to the lounge to show my husband. At one point it felt as if she was describing my childhood, but this is about Shana’s story.
This one of the most honest, detailed and heart-wrenching books I have ever read. I’m pretty sure it would be really easy to binge-read this in a sitting, but because of the heavy content I had to take some breaks in between. Shana doesn’t sugarcoat her experiences and her writing is very easy to read. The topics discussed are those of sexism, physical, emotional and sexual abuse as well as mental health issues.
Shana gives us insight to what it is truly like to grow up as a colored female and even though some of these events have taken place many years ago, not much has changed to this day. She tells us how gender-based violence within these households is often accepted and not spoken about, because ‘what happens in other people’s homes is none of our business.’ Being told you need to behave a certain way by your family because you are a girl, the way boys and girls/men and women are treated differently to one another and are still expected to fulfill specific gender roles and how difficult it is to try and break that cycle.
It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from, I would recommend this to everyone even if you are on the other side of the world (there is a glossary at the end that explain certain terminology) but if you are a female and a coloured female from Cape Town, then this is a book you have to read.
Disclaimer: I was sent this free copy for review by Jonathan Ball Publishers. This does not influence my review or rating in any way. All views and opinions expressed are my own.
It is written by local Capetonian, Shana Fife. Being from Cape Town myself, this book was extremely easy to relate to, but not always in a good way. You have to face some harsh realities about the way coloured females were and are still treated to this day. It’s difficult to express the emotions I felt when Shana mentioned Southfield and St. Anne’s Primary (The suburb in which I grew up and the primary school I attended when I was in grades 6 and 7 after also being removed from another primary school in a less well off area) I actually ran to the lounge to show my husband. At one point it felt as if she was describing my childhood, but this is about Shana’s story.
This one of the most honest, detailed and heart-wrenching books I have ever read. I’m pretty sure it would be really easy to binge-read this in a sitting, but because of the heavy content I had to take some breaks in between. Shana doesn’t sugarcoat her experiences and her writing is very easy to read. The topics discussed are those of sexism, physical, emotional and sexual abuse as well as mental health issues.
Shana gives us insight to what it is truly like to grow up as a colored female and even though some of these events have taken place many years ago, not much has changed to this day. She tells us how gender-based violence within these households is often accepted and not spoken about, because ‘what happens in other people’s homes is none of our business.’ Being told you need to behave a certain way by your family because you are a girl, the way boys and girls/men and women are treated differently to one another and are still expected to fulfill specific gender roles and how difficult it is to try and break that cycle.
It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from, I would recommend this to everyone even if you are on the other side of the world (there is a glossary at the end that explain certain terminology) but if you are a female and a coloured female from Cape Town, then this is a book you have to read.
Disclaimer: I was sent this free copy for review by Jonathan Ball Publishers. This does not influence my review or rating in any way. All views and opinions expressed are my own.
January 5, 2022
Amazing book, was able to finish it in 1 day due to how engaged I felt. As a coloured male, definitely felt close to the subject matter being discussed and taught me a thing or 2.
January 30, 2022
This book is POWERFUL. As a Cape Coloured woman, the intersection whose experience is discussed in sometimes excruciating detail, I found this a hard, compelling and necessary read. Shana's writing is masterful. The way she intertwines the vernacular of the protagonists with her astute reflections on the significance of the events as they happen serve to contextualise them while maintaining complete immersion in the moment being described.
In a podcast published shortly after the book launch, she says that it didn't take courage to start her first blog, rather, she'd simply stopped caring what the repercussions may be because she didn't think anyone cared about her. I am grateful for that moment because I believe her story will save the lives of a lot of women.
Thank you Shana for your work — and thank you for your liberal use of the word Poes, because it's underused and nothing else matches its sincere descriptive capability.
In a podcast published shortly after the book launch, she says that it didn't take courage to start her first blog, rather, she'd simply stopped caring what the repercussions may be because she didn't think anyone cared about her. I am grateful for that moment because I believe her story will save the lives of a lot of women.
Thank you Shana for your work — and thank you for your liberal use of the word Poes, because it's underused and nothing else matches its sincere descriptive capability.
October 25, 2022
Couldn’t put this down! So many triggers - I swear all coloured mothers come from the same factory. I could hear my own mums voice often whilst reading. 😂 Warning to all, you’re going to get really angry with Shana Fife for many poor decisions, you’re going to scream at her, shake your head and perhaps even reflect on your own 20s. Fife is very honest throughout the book, which makes her extremely flawed and unlikeable, yet you keep reading and keep hoping things will turn around for her!
June 7, 2022
Ougat: From A Hoe Into A Housewife And Then Some is a poignant memoir penned down by Shana Fife. Ougat is gut-wrenching. It is honest, open, and definitely relatable to the majority of girls in South Africa.
Shana Fife doesn’t hold back. She tells her life as it was. The good, the bad, the regrets, the dreams she had, the failures, and the assaults she suffered in the hands of those who were supposed to love and protect her.
Shana first shares about the environment she grew up in. How she had always sensed the subtle toxicity it emanated but was way too young then to understand it and put it in words so she can call it what it was—which was toxic. It’s only now, as a grown and a matured woman, that she understands that from birth, the odds were stacked against her.
She talks about the abuse of children that was prevalent in her community. She even recalls the dysfunctionalities in her own family. She recalls the emotional abuse that men in her family inflicted on their wives and how, in turn, they took it all out on their children.
Shana talks about the journey of her two pregnancies and meeting Lyle, who caused so much havoc in her life that she even swore that if she could start her life over, she wouldn’t touch a man.
In between the covers of Ougat lies very emotional stories that will leave your emotions conflicted. I don’t know if it was on purpose, but Shana’s employment of humour in this book was both confusing and magical. She would recall a very bad incident that is supposed to make you angry, but somehow, you will burst out in laughter because of how she told it.
Shana’s words managed to draw me from start to finish. The only reason that I didn’t finish reading this well-crafted, 223-paged book in one sitting is that I got emotional and had to take unintended breaks to gather myself. I don’t think anyone can stomach what Lyle did to Shana. Lyle’s actions will have you closing the book in anger.
She dropped the f-bombs the way she liked because this is her book.
Ougat is a very important book, especially to the South African audience. I applaud Shana for having the courage to write about her much sensitive herstory. With Ougat, she has managed to claim her voice and existence back. She also gave courage to the other survivors, even though she said she doesn’t like the word “survivor.” This book demands to be read by everyone.
Shana Fife doesn’t hold back. She tells her life as it was. The good, the bad, the regrets, the dreams she had, the failures, and the assaults she suffered in the hands of those who were supposed to love and protect her.
Shana first shares about the environment she grew up in. How she had always sensed the subtle toxicity it emanated but was way too young then to understand it and put it in words so she can call it what it was—which was toxic. It’s only now, as a grown and a matured woman, that she understands that from birth, the odds were stacked against her.
She talks about the abuse of children that was prevalent in her community. She even recalls the dysfunctionalities in her own family. She recalls the emotional abuse that men in her family inflicted on their wives and how, in turn, they took it all out on their children.
Shana talks about the journey of her two pregnancies and meeting Lyle, who caused so much havoc in her life that she even swore that if she could start her life over, she wouldn’t touch a man.
In between the covers of Ougat lies very emotional stories that will leave your emotions conflicted. I don’t know if it was on purpose, but Shana’s employment of humour in this book was both confusing and magical. She would recall a very bad incident that is supposed to make you angry, but somehow, you will burst out in laughter because of how she told it.
Shana’s words managed to draw me from start to finish. The only reason that I didn’t finish reading this well-crafted, 223-paged book in one sitting is that I got emotional and had to take unintended breaks to gather myself. I don’t think anyone can stomach what Lyle did to Shana. Lyle’s actions will have you closing the book in anger.
She dropped the f-bombs the way she liked because this is her book.
Ougat is a very important book, especially to the South African audience. I applaud Shana for having the courage to write about her much sensitive herstory. With Ougat, she has managed to claim her voice and existence back. She also gave courage to the other survivors, even though she said she doesn’t like the word “survivor.” This book demands to be read by everyone.
November 20, 2025
I listened to Ougat by Shana Fife on Everand, and I’m so glad I chose the audio version. Hearing the story in the author’s own voice and accent made me feel as if a friend were confiding her life story to me. This book had me gaping from the first chapter to the very last.
It made me wish there were something we could invent to help every girl child know her worth early, to spare her from the kind of pain Shana went through. These cycles don’t just appear out of nowhere. They often begin at home. I also wish parents had something that truly helped them understand why they choose to have children and how to show up wholeheartedly as good, present parents.
And why is it that so many of us were simply told, “You are a woman now,” after getting our first period and then left to figure out the rest alone?
Women have so much power, yet we often give it away out of fear, fear of losing out on “good” men and ending up with the ones who only pretend to be good, like Lyle. I despised Lyle and everything he did. His comments about the baby girl were disturbing, and the way he lived and eventually died sadly didn’t surprise me. We’ll never know whether he could have chosen a different path or just continued the toxic cycle with Shana.
Ougat is raw, painful, and powerful. It left me thinking long after it ended.
It made me wish there were something we could invent to help every girl child know her worth early, to spare her from the kind of pain Shana went through. These cycles don’t just appear out of nowhere. They often begin at home. I also wish parents had something that truly helped them understand why they choose to have children and how to show up wholeheartedly as good, present parents.
And why is it that so many of us were simply told, “You are a woman now,” after getting our first period and then left to figure out the rest alone?
Women have so much power, yet we often give it away out of fear, fear of losing out on “good” men and ending up with the ones who only pretend to be good, like Lyle. I despised Lyle and everything he did. His comments about the baby girl were disturbing, and the way he lived and eventually died sadly didn’t surprise me. We’ll never know whether he could have chosen a different path or just continued the toxic cycle with Shana.
Ougat is raw, painful, and powerful. It left me thinking long after it ended.
September 24, 2021
Ougat by Shana Fife is a powerful memoir of a young South African woman from the Cape Flats of Cape Town.
As she grows up, she’s constantly being told (explicitly and implicitly) that women are to be quiet to please men, and she eventually ends up in an abusive relationship for years. This book felt like her taking on her family, her culture and the patriarchy in general — and she didn’t pull any punches. She shares her experiences with a rawness that was uncomfortable sometimes, but also with a dark sense of humor that kept me eagerly turning pages.
Fife is a brilliant writer and this is an important book. Fife’s own story of abuse is not as uncommon as we often think, and many women will be able to relate to her experiences. As a foreigner living in South Africa, I really appreciated her perspective and feel like I learned a lot about South African and specifically Coloured culture from this book.
I admire Fife’s courage to share so openly about the abuse she experienced. This wasn’t an easy or light topic, but Fife wrote with a fierceness that showed she owned her story. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5 stars
As she grows up, she’s constantly being told (explicitly and implicitly) that women are to be quiet to please men, and she eventually ends up in an abusive relationship for years. This book felt like her taking on her family, her culture and the patriarchy in general — and she didn’t pull any punches. She shares her experiences with a rawness that was uncomfortable sometimes, but also with a dark sense of humor that kept me eagerly turning pages.
Fife is a brilliant writer and this is an important book. Fife’s own story of abuse is not as uncommon as we often think, and many women will be able to relate to her experiences. As a foreigner living in South Africa, I really appreciated her perspective and feel like I learned a lot about South African and specifically Coloured culture from this book.
I admire Fife’s courage to share so openly about the abuse she experienced. This wasn’t an easy or light topic, but Fife wrote with a fierceness that showed she owned her story. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5 stars
November 17, 2021
Shana starts off guns blazing about what every coloured girl was learned since birth ....you need to be a virgin when getting married and the ultimate goal in your life as a coloured woman - to get a guy to marry you and that's it. Life goal on earth achieved. ✅
She really hit the nail straight on the head with how our lives as coloured girls to women are perceived. From the way the married women look at the single , independent women to the weddings in the civic centre🤣. She lets you relive your childhood , so clearly that it hits home on many accounts.
Her story is so unapologetically and at times you do feel a bit uncomfortable with certain topics that we all had to face once in our lives. She makes you remember things you wanted to forget and forces you to relive it with her.
I agree that all South African Women should read this book because you never know when someone's experience can save you from yours.
She really hit the nail straight on the head with how our lives as coloured girls to women are perceived. From the way the married women look at the single , independent women to the weddings in the civic centre🤣. She lets you relive your childhood , so clearly that it hits home on many accounts.
Her story is so unapologetically and at times you do feel a bit uncomfortable with certain topics that we all had to face once in our lives. She makes you remember things you wanted to forget and forces you to relive it with her.
I agree that all South African Women should read this book because you never know when someone's experience can save you from yours.
November 17, 2021
I received Ougat as a birthday present and decided to save it for a day where I finally had nothing to do (wishful thinking, still waiting for that day). I started reading a couple of days ago after work and, damn! There were so many times where I had to put the book down and take a breather because it felt so real and raw (because as a reader you imagine yourself as the protagonist), but this was not the type of book you can leave for an hour and come back later, it’s too much of an intense page turner! I would encourage every woman of colour to read this book. Even though there might be parts that you cannot relate to, there’s at least one thing that all of us can relate to. You are not a survivor Shana, you are a damn HERO!!
December 22, 2021
Gripping story and a quick read. I admire Shana for her vulnerability in sharing this story.
It saddens me to think this story of abuse is only one of thousands, but they need to be told and heard far and wide. I also felt a bizarre amount of anger towards her parents while reading this - be better parents.
Oh, and I think Shana could have done with a better editor.
It saddens me to think this story of abuse is only one of thousands, but they need to be told and heard far and wide. I also felt a bizarre amount of anger towards her parents while reading this - be better parents.
Oh, and I think Shana could have done with a better editor.
July 10, 2021
This book partly felt like gratuitous violence. The story of a coloured woman and her lived experience is so important, but this spent too much time immersed in tropes and I found the main character lacking in accountability.
September 20, 2021
This book was amazing. It left me open, vulnerable, sad, disgusted, emotional and super upset at the same time. I am grateful to know and have this woman in my life. Her strength to share her truth is courageous. I am in awe of her and now I love her even more.
October 17, 2021
Could not put the book down, well written, shockingly accurate perspective into coloured culture. A honest description of a deeply scarred people. I am so happy the author was able to change her narrative and find her truth.
October 21, 2021
so true, so raw, so needed!
I related to this book so much, it’s surreal! Growing up in the same area but just a few years before. How I wish that this was all fiction, but alas.
Such a good read, keeps you wanting to know more and more
Couldn’t put it down
I related to this book so much, it’s surreal! Growing up in the same area but just a few years before. How I wish that this was all fiction, but alas.
Such a good read, keeps you wanting to know more and more
Couldn’t put it down
December 23, 2021
After initially struggling to get into this book I’m glad I went back to finish it. Funny yet a heartbreaking insight into surviving an abusive relationship. Validating to read about a woman experiencing a monster that I find so familiar. PTSD is wild hey, c’est la vie 👋
Read
August 31, 2021Riveting read. it made me feel like i was reading her diary, but with consent. Opened my eyes to many things that happened to me as a young girl and how it shaped my life and my approach to men.
October 1, 2021
Too relatable to not get 5 stars. Review to come soon
November 2, 2021
Incredibly brave, heartbreakingly accurate account of a sometimes broken culture. This is a very talented woman and makes me proud to be South African.
November 13, 2021
If you’re coloured and free up in a coloured area, this book will be so familiar. Made me feel sad at times how these things were so ‘normal’ in our community. I loved this book!
February 12, 2022
What a book ! I laughed and I cried. So raw, looking forward to more of Shana Fife’s work.
March 17, 2022
Amazing!!!!!
August 30, 2022
All of the feels. Just so much resonance here. Not my preferred writing style - it's why it's not an all the stars read for me.
December 31, 2024
I think this must have been very cathartic for Shana Fife to write, to share her abuse. Very raw.
I did like that she is also the narrator of the audiobook.
I did like that she is also the narrator of the audiobook.
February 26, 2025
Yoh!!!! I honestly need more time to truly formulate my thoughts BUT A STORY
September 17, 2024
Raw and so relatable
I read this book in 1 day... I laughed and cried and reflected while reading. Amazing amazing writing. Since reading this I'm finding it hard to find another book that gripped me this much...
I read this book in 1 day... I laughed and cried and reflected while reading. Amazing amazing writing. Since reading this I'm finding it hard to find another book that gripped me this much...
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews