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The Choice Between Us
A story of two girls living in Johannesburg. Two acts of betrayal, set more than fifty years apart. Jenna Moore, a troubled fifteen-year-old, is packing up her Aunt C-C's Johannesburg house. She prises open a locked drawer and finds an old letter addressed to her aunt. One of a few words stands out MURDERER. As Jenna discovers the clues which reveal the secret her aunt has attempted to keep hidden all her life, she is forced to confront her own shameful act of betrayal.
209 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 20, 2019
57 people want to read
About the author
Edyth Bulbring
26 books38 followersEdyth Bulbring is an award-winning author of nine Young Adult novels: The Summer of Toffie and Grummer which was shortlisted for the English Academy's 2010 Percy FitzPatrick prize for Youth Literature (Oxford University Press, February 2008); Cornelia Button and the Globe of Gamagion (Jacana, April 2008); The Club (Jonathan Ball Publishers, September 2008); Pops and The Nearly Dead (Penguin, March 2010); Melly, Mrs Ho and Me (Penguin, September 2010); Melly, Fatty and Me which was awarded the English Academy's 2012 Percy FitzPatrick prize for Youth Literature (Penguin, September 2011); The Mark which was awarded the English Academy's 2016 Percy FitzPatrick Prize for Youth Literature (Tafelberg September 2014) and Snitch which won the 2017 M.E.R Prize for best Afrikaans or English youth novel (Tafelberg, May 2016).
She was born in Boksburg and grew up in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. She worked as a journalist for fifteen years and was the political correspondent at the Sunday Times of South Africa covering the first democratic elections. She likes dogs, trees and junk shops.
She was born in Boksburg and grew up in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. She worked as a journalist for fifteen years and was the political correspondent at the Sunday Times of South Africa covering the first democratic elections. She likes dogs, trees and junk shops.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 3, 2019
I loved this book! Edyth Bulbring always writes beautifully, but there's something special about this story. Two time lines - one set in South Africa's difficult past as told by a younger girl whose very innocence is dangerous, and one in the present from the perspective of a snarky teenager - interweave to tell a powerful, evocative story of family, loyalty, betrayal, grief and hope. I thought it was so cleverly done and predict it will become a classic.
September 29, 2020
Every once in a while a book lands on my desk that I immediately know is an important read, and The Choice Between Us by Edyth Bulbring is one of those books. While at a glance this is a story that's skewed by the lens of two highly unreliable narrators, there's a bigger tale at play in which Bulbring offers readers snapshots of two very different South Africas, her narrators both in some way limited by their environments.
The Choice Between Us alternates cleverly between the lives of two young girls. It's 1963, and we see the world through Margaret's eyes. Her father is a well-to-do doctor, and she has a closer relationship with her nanny than she has with her own mother. Incredibly sheltered and totally naïve, she makes social blunders that ultimately have dire consequences within the toxic stewpot of apartheid-era South Africa. She is very much a product of her time, and reflects many of the social mores you'd expect from someone growing up in these circumstances – a privileged, oft-indulged child, yet I can't help but love her for her obliviousness.
Fifty years later, her relative Jenna goes to help her grand-aunt C-C pack up the old family house, and in doing so uncovers tantalising snippets into the history of her family. A damaged young woman, she in turn damages people around her through her actions. My heart bled for her, and there were times when I was yelling, "No, don't do it!" at the book. Yet watching her arc unfold was also incredibly satisfying, because despite her quirks, Jenna shows a surprising resilience and uncommon wisdom once she decides to take responsibility for her actions.
But what makes this book so powerful in my mind is how it effortlessly juxtaposes two vastly different eras. As a child of the 1980s, I grew up during the tail end of apartheid, so some of what Margaret expresses echoed with me in my family's attitudes from when I was younger. And yet Jenna's great disillusionment and, dare I say it, borderline nihilism, also touched me. This is not so much a story about two young woman, but rather glimpses into the lives of other people viewed through imperfect lenses and coloured with pronounced biases, and therein lies the charm. As always, Bulbring's characterisation is spot on. She understands the multitude of human cruelties all too well, down to the false smiles and barbed comments, to the larger evils. And yet she also offers us a glimmer of hope among the brokenness.
The Choice Between Us alternates cleverly between the lives of two young girls. It's 1963, and we see the world through Margaret's eyes. Her father is a well-to-do doctor, and she has a closer relationship with her nanny than she has with her own mother. Incredibly sheltered and totally naïve, she makes social blunders that ultimately have dire consequences within the toxic stewpot of apartheid-era South Africa. She is very much a product of her time, and reflects many of the social mores you'd expect from someone growing up in these circumstances – a privileged, oft-indulged child, yet I can't help but love her for her obliviousness.
Fifty years later, her relative Jenna goes to help her grand-aunt C-C pack up the old family house, and in doing so uncovers tantalising snippets into the history of her family. A damaged young woman, she in turn damages people around her through her actions. My heart bled for her, and there were times when I was yelling, "No, don't do it!" at the book. Yet watching her arc unfold was also incredibly satisfying, because despite her quirks, Jenna shows a surprising resilience and uncommon wisdom once she decides to take responsibility for her actions.
But what makes this book so powerful in my mind is how it effortlessly juxtaposes two vastly different eras. As a child of the 1980s, I grew up during the tail end of apartheid, so some of what Margaret expresses echoed with me in my family's attitudes from when I was younger. And yet Jenna's great disillusionment and, dare I say it, borderline nihilism, also touched me. This is not so much a story about two young woman, but rather glimpses into the lives of other people viewed through imperfect lenses and coloured with pronounced biases, and therein lies the charm. As always, Bulbring's characterisation is spot on. She understands the multitude of human cruelties all too well, down to the false smiles and barbed comments, to the larger evils. And yet she also offers us a glimmer of hope among the brokenness.
November 1, 2019
Margaret is 9 jaar oud. Dis Johannesburg 1963. Liliesleaf, Rivonia, aanhoudings sonder verhoor, Nelson Mandela......
Haar verhaal word afwisselend vertel met dié van Jenna; 15 jaar oud, tiener in die 21ste eeu. Sy ontmoet haar ma se Aunt CC - wat deel uitmaak van Margaret se verhaal.
Jenna is aanvanklik nie ‘n karakter wat deernis wek nie; sy is arrogant en leuenagtig. Soos wat haar storie egter ontvou, begin die leser tog empatie vir haar ontwikkel. Haar dilemma in die huidige word op die ou end direk beïnvloed deur Aunt CC se geskiedenis; beide het berou oor keuses wat hulle gemaak het. Vir Aunt CC is dit te laat om die verlede ongedaan te maak - maar Jenna het nog ‘n kans: as sy bereid is om te leer uit die geskiedenis.
Ek het die boek baie geniet. Dis ‘n kuns om ‘n verhaal uit twee oogpunte te vertel - veral as die 2 vertellers se ouderdomme en agtergronde so drasties verskil. Die skrywer het uitstekend daarin geslaag: Jenna is ‘n tipiese moderne tiener; Margaret ‘n naïewe wysneus. En tog is hulle stories - deur Aunt CC - inmekaar geweef.
Die boek is waarskynlik gemik op jong volwassenes (so 14 jaar en ouer) maar sal net soveel geniet word deur volwassenes wat nog goed kan onthou hoe dit was.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews