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People Like Ourselves by Pamela Jooste β€” book cover

People Like Ourselves

by Pamela Jooste
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Overview

Julia belongs to the inner circle of Johannesburg high society. But in the New South Africa, things have changed - the days of tea on the lawn are over.

Julia's husband, Douglas, is a serial adulterer and is no longer willing to pay for the small luxuries she has always enjoyed. Her daughter has rebelled herself right out of her life. She doesn't seem to be able to manage the 'home workers' who have developed a will of their own, and her best friend, Caroline, is quietly considering killing her husband.

Now Douglas's ex-wife, who is never spoken of, has announced her intention of coming to visit from London bringing, no doubt, her politically correct credentials along with her. She's coming to see Nelson Mandela, she says.

People Like Ourselves takes a wry look at the brave new world that is the 'African miracle' today, by the prize-winning author of Frieda and Min, Like Water in Wild Places and Dance with a Poor Man's Daughter.

Synopsis

Julia belongs to the inner circle of Johannesburg high society. But in the New South Africa, things have changed - the days of tea on the lawn are over.

Julia's husband, Douglas, is a serial adulterer and is no longer willing to pay for the small luxuries she has always enjoyed. Her daughter has rebelled herself right out of her life. She doesn't seem to be able to manage the 'home workers' who have developed a will of their own, and her best friend, Caroline, is quietly considering killing her husband.

Now Douglas's ex-wife, who is never spoken of, has announced her intention of coming to visit from London bringing, no doubt, her politically correct credentials along with her. She's coming to see Nelson Mandela, she says.

People Like Ourselves takes a wry look at the brave new world that is the 'African miracle' today, by the prize-winning author of Frieda and Min, Like Water in Wild Places and Dance with a Poor Man's Daughter.

About the Author, Pamela Jooste

Pamela Jooste was born in Cape Town, where she still lives. Her first novel, Dance with a Poor Man’s Daughter, won the Commonwealth Best First Book Award.

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Editorials

Kirkus Reviews

A somber portrait of the deteriorating marriage of a white middle-aged couple beset by doubts and fears in post-apartheid Johannesburg, where the past still casts long shadows and the future is uncertain. South African novelist Jooste (Like Water in Wild Places, 2000, etc.) also vividly evokes the present: an edgy time of flux, of waiting for new patterns to emerge and for life to assume some definable shape. Liberation's euphoria has inevitably evaporated as whites adjust to the loss of privileges, security, and certainty, while blacks cope with generational tensions, lowered expectations, and crime. The plight of Julia and Douglas deftly mirrors their society's dissatisfactions and disappointments. She has tried to be the perfect wife and mother, but he sees other women, and their runaway daughter takes drugs and refuses to visit. Meanwhile, Douglas is under pressure to appoint a black to the board of his construction company. Business is bad, he's in debt, and he's tired of fighting with his wife about her spending. As an embittered Julia decides to change her life, other characters connected to the central couple also face challenges. In London, Douglas's first wife Rosalie, who went to prison for her politics and was then deported, is trying to cope with increasing memory loss. Michael, a wealthy Johannesburg entrepreneur who was once Rosalie's lover, feels guilty for abandoning the struggle after her arrest. Wealthy Caroline, Julia's best friend, copes with unwelcome change after her husband Gus is rendered comatose in a car accident; a developer wants to buy the family estate, and their son pressures her to sell. Gladstone, an aging African who works for Douglas, wants to live inthe country, but his urban daughter objects. Matters come to a head as Julia plans a party for Rosalie, mistakenly rumored to be returning, and decisions are made that involve divorce, murder, and acceptance. A finely crafted portrayal of a society on the cusp.

Book Details

Published
March 31, 2012
Publisher
Transworld Publishers Limited
Pages
336
ISBN
9781448127177

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