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Maverick: Extraordinary Women from South Africa's Past
This is a book about raconteurs and renegades, writers, poets, provocateurs and pop stars, artists and activists and a cross-dressing doctor. From Africa's first black movie star and Drum covergirl, Dolly Rathebe, to Glenda Kemp, the snake-dancing stripper who shook up the verkrampte social mores of the 70s, these are the riveting true tales of women who broke with convention and damn the consequences.
Spanning over 350 years of history, Maverick explores the compelling lives of some of South Africa's most famous - and notorious - women, including Brenda Fassie, Daisy de Melker, Sara Bartmann, Ingrid Jonker, Helen Joseph, Nongqawuse and Bessie Head. But it also delves into lesser-known stories of the likes of reluctant Boer commando Sarah Raal, the ill-fated khoekhoe interpreter Krotoa-Eva, Black Sophie, the brothel queen of Bree Street, and Elizabeth Klarer, who gave birth to an alien love child in 1958.
Spanning over 350 years of history, Maverick explores the compelling lives of some of South Africa's most famous - and notorious - women, including Brenda Fassie, Daisy de Melker, Sara Bartmann, Ingrid Jonker, Helen Joseph, Nongqawuse and Bessie Head. But it also delves into lesser-known stories of the likes of reluctant Boer commando Sarah Raal, the ill-fated khoekhoe interpreter Krotoa-Eva, Black Sophie, the brothel queen of Bree Street, and Elizabeth Klarer, who gave birth to an alien love child in 1958.
249 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2004
About the author
Lauren Beukes
98 books3,234 followersLauren Beukes is an award-winning, best-selling novelist who also writes screenplays, TV shows, comics and journalism. Her books have been translated into 26 languages and have been optioned for film and TV.
Her awards include the Arthur C Clarke Award, the prestigious University of Johannesburg prize, the August Derleth Prize, the Strand Critics Choice Award and the RT Thriller of the Year. She’s been honoured in South Africa’s parliament and most recently won the Mbokondo Award from the Department of Arts and Culture, celebrating women in the arts for her work in the Creative Writing field.
She is the author of Broken Monsters, about art, ambition, damaged people and not-quite-broken cities, The Shining Girls, about a time-travelling serial killer, the nature of violence, and how we are haunted by history, Zoo City, a phantasmagorical noir set in Johannesburg which won the Arthur C Clarke Award and Moxyland, a dystopian political thriller about a corporate apartheid state where people are controlled by their cell phones. Her first book was a feminist pop-history, Maverick: Extraordinary Women From South Africa’s Past, which has recently been reprinted.
Her comics work includes Survivors' Club, an original Vertigo comic with Dale Halvorsen and Ryan Kelly, the New York Times-bestselling graphic novel, Fairest: The Hidden Kingdom with Inaki Miranda, and a Wonder Woman one-shot for kids, “The Trouble With Cats” in Sensation Comics, set in Mozambique and Soweto and drawn by Mike Maihack.
Her film and TV work includes directing the documentary, Glitterboys & Ganglands, about Cape Town’s biggest female impersonation beauty pageant. The film won best LGBT film at the San Diego Black Film Festival.
She was the showrunner on South Africa’s first full length animated TV series, URBO: The Adventures of Pax Afrika which ran for 104 half hour episodes from 2006-2009 on SABC3. She’s also written for the Disney shows Mouk and Florrie’s Dragons and on the satirical political puppet show,ZANews and Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s South African Story.
Before that she was a freelance journalist for eight years, writing about electricity cable thieves, TB, circumcision, telemedicine, great white sharks, homeless sex workers, Botswana’s first female high court judge, and Barbie as a feminist icon for magazines ranging from The Sunday Times Lifestyle to Nature Medicine, Colors, The Big Issue and Marie Claire.
She lives in Cape Town, South Africa with her daughter.
www.laurenbeukes.com
Twitter.com/laurenbeukes Instagram.com/laurenbeukes Facebook.com/laurenbeukes
Awards & Achievements
2015 South Africa’s Mbokondo Award for Women In The Arts: Creative Writing
2014 August Derleth Award for The Shining Girls
2014 Strand Critics Choice Award for The Shining Girls
2014 NPR Best Books of the Year Broken Monsters
2014 LA Times Best Books of the Year Broken Monsters
2013 University of Johannesburg Literature Prize for The Shining Girls
2013 RT Thriller of the Year for The Shining Girls
2013 WHSmith Richard & Judy BookClub Choice
2013 Exclusive Books’ Bookseller’s Choice for The Shining Girls
2013 Amazon Best Mysteries and Thrillers for The Shining Girls
2011 Kitschies Red Tentacle for Zoo City
2010 Arthur C Clarke Award for Zoo City
Her awards include the Arthur C Clarke Award, the prestigious University of Johannesburg prize, the August Derleth Prize, the Strand Critics Choice Award and the RT Thriller of the Year. She’s been honoured in South Africa’s parliament and most recently won the Mbokondo Award from the Department of Arts and Culture, celebrating women in the arts for her work in the Creative Writing field.
She is the author of Broken Monsters, about art, ambition, damaged people and not-quite-broken cities, The Shining Girls, about a time-travelling serial killer, the nature of violence, and how we are haunted by history, Zoo City, a phantasmagorical noir set in Johannesburg which won the Arthur C Clarke Award and Moxyland, a dystopian political thriller about a corporate apartheid state where people are controlled by their cell phones. Her first book was a feminist pop-history, Maverick: Extraordinary Women From South Africa’s Past, which has recently been reprinted.
Her comics work includes Survivors' Club, an original Vertigo comic with Dale Halvorsen and Ryan Kelly, the New York Times-bestselling graphic novel, Fairest: The Hidden Kingdom with Inaki Miranda, and a Wonder Woman one-shot for kids, “The Trouble With Cats” in Sensation Comics, set in Mozambique and Soweto and drawn by Mike Maihack.
Her film and TV work includes directing the documentary, Glitterboys & Ganglands, about Cape Town’s biggest female impersonation beauty pageant. The film won best LGBT film at the San Diego Black Film Festival.
She was the showrunner on South Africa’s first full length animated TV series, URBO: The Adventures of Pax Afrika which ran for 104 half hour episodes from 2006-2009 on SABC3. She’s also written for the Disney shows Mouk and Florrie’s Dragons and on the satirical political puppet show,ZANews and Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s South African Story.
Before that she was a freelance journalist for eight years, writing about electricity cable thieves, TB, circumcision, telemedicine, great white sharks, homeless sex workers, Botswana’s first female high court judge, and Barbie as a feminist icon for magazines ranging from The Sunday Times Lifestyle to Nature Medicine, Colors, The Big Issue and Marie Claire.
She lives in Cape Town, South Africa with her daughter.
www.laurenbeukes.com
Twitter.com/laurenbeukes Instagram.com/laurenbeukes Facebook.com/laurenbeukes
Awards & Achievements
2015 South Africa’s Mbokondo Award for Women In The Arts: Creative Writing
2014 August Derleth Award for The Shining Girls
2014 Strand Critics Choice Award for The Shining Girls
2014 NPR Best Books of the Year Broken Monsters
2014 LA Times Best Books of the Year Broken Monsters
2013 University of Johannesburg Literature Prize for The Shining Girls
2013 RT Thriller of the Year for The Shining Girls
2013 WHSmith Richard & Judy BookClub Choice
2013 Exclusive Books’ Bookseller’s Choice for The Shining Girls
2013 Amazon Best Mysteries and Thrillers for The Shining Girls
2011 Kitschies Red Tentacle for Zoo City
2010 Arthur C Clarke Award for Zoo City
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 16, 2010
The lives of some of South Africa's most famous and infamous women are explored. Beukes writes cleanly and Maverick is reader-friendly. One could read multiple-murdereress, Daisy de Melker's story on Monday, the stripper who's sidekick was a python, Glenda Kemp's on Tuesday, writer Olive Schreiners on Wednesday or one could just pig out and enjoy it all in one sitting.
Read about the strange, Elizabeth Klarer, who loved an alien and the tragic brilliant poet, Ingrid Jonker. Then do a 180* turn and read about the larger-than-life diva Brenda Fassie.
Maverick is about women who broke with convention. It spans 350 years of our history and is a welcome addition to any library. We all need to read about our history and the women, not just the men, who made it.
Read about the strange, Elizabeth Klarer, who loved an alien and the tragic brilliant poet, Ingrid Jonker. Then do a 180* turn and read about the larger-than-life diva Brenda Fassie.
Maverick is about women who broke with convention. It spans 350 years of our history and is a welcome addition to any library. We all need to read about our history and the women, not just the men, who made it.
June 4, 2019
South Africa's history is filled with women who bucked the trend, did what they liked, damned by anyone else. Some, like murderess Daisy de Melker, are infamous. Others, like the continent's first black movie star, Dolly Rathebe or anti-apartheid activists, Ruth First and Lilian Ngoyi, gave the metaphorical middle finger to naysayers and those trying to oppress them.
The book includes the stories of Sarah Bartmann, the Khoi woman who was exhibited like an animal in Europe; Dr James Barry, born a woman in the 19th century but dressing as a man to study medicine and practice as a doctor; the poet Ingrid Jonker; Ma-Brrr the pop princess Brenda Fassie; and Eudy Simelane, the Banyana Banyana star who was brutally murdered.
Not all of them are heroines. Take for example the late Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, the AIDS denialist under whose leadership hundreds of thousands denied through being denied treatment.
The stories are compelling, fascinating vignettes into the lives of non-conformists, those who refused to be told what to do.
The book includes the stories of Sarah Bartmann, the Khoi woman who was exhibited like an animal in Europe; Dr James Barry, born a woman in the 19th century but dressing as a man to study medicine and practice as a doctor; the poet Ingrid Jonker; Ma-Brrr the pop princess Brenda Fassie; and Eudy Simelane, the Banyana Banyana star who was brutally murdered.
Not all of them are heroines. Take for example the late Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, the AIDS denialist under whose leadership hundreds of thousands denied through being denied treatment.
The stories are compelling, fascinating vignettes into the lives of non-conformists, those who refused to be told what to do.
September 27, 2020
I’m giving the 4th star just for introducing all these stories of extraordinary women to me.
The book is easy to read and Beukes has a cool style. The stories of women in this book are fascinating, even if not all of them are about positive achievements.
The biggest weakness of this book is its sketchiness. These stories deserve more pages.
The book is easy to read and Beukes has a cool style. The stories of women in this book are fascinating, even if not all of them are about positive achievements.
The biggest weakness of this book is its sketchiness. These stories deserve more pages.
February 25, 2019
An incredibly woven collection of short stories sharing the secrets of some inspirational South African women. Not what you're going to find on their Wikipedia pages.
May 6, 2020
On the cover it says she's a journalist and these pieces read like shorts for a women's magazine - snippets of gossip and fact from research others have already done. OK but a bit light. Discarded.
January 17, 2026
A great intro to some of the wacky, wild, misunderstood and downright inspiring women who have built South Africa, in one way or another.
December 2, 2014
Lauren Beukes has produced Broken Monsters and The Shining Girls of late. In this 2015 publication of a book originally written in 2005, she is joined by Nechama Brodie, who helped update it, and added three chapters.
Yes this is history. But don't think dry, dull and boring. Think highly entertaining, whacky and written with a dry wit and sharp insight.
Read my full review here
Yes this is history. But don't think dry, dull and boring. Think highly entertaining, whacky and written with a dry wit and sharp insight.
Read my full review here
March 24, 2016
This was such an amazing read. Although the stories were brief, there was such an amazing variety and any particular story can (and should) be further investigated. This compilation of biographies covered divas, freedom fighters, artists, singers, villains (or perhaps just more complicated humans), strippers, and tragedies. South Africa has truly hosted them all, and I am sure now that this is just the tip of an iceberg.
April 24, 2012
important when you want to get an overview of South African women in history and easy read
January 2, 2013
Great fun. From the subject matter to the writing style
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews