Every secret thing : my family, my country / Gillian Slovo Slovo, Gillian, 1952-

User activity

Send to:
View the summary of this work
Author
Slovo, Gillian, 1952-
Subjects
Slovo, Gillian, 1952-; Anti-apartheid movements - South Africa - Biography.; 20th century
Audience
Adult
Summary
"Gillian Slovo's life has been extraordinary. She is the daughter of South Africa's most prominent white anti-apartheid leaders: Ruth First, the journalist and political activist assassinated in exile in 1982, and Joe Slovo, South African Communist Party head and eventual Minister of Housing in the government headed by his old friend Nelson Mandela." "Slovo grew up in a household fraught with secrets, where a police tail was commonplace on every family outing, and where letters were written in code and phones were tapped. In telling her story, she recounts her childhood agony at always coming second to "the cause" and gives us an illuminating portrait of the mysteries and turmoil at the heart of every family's history. For her own safety, she was sent to England at the age of twelve, leaving behind a troubling family past.". "With the end of apartheid, Slovo returned to South Africa to reclaim her childhood - and to confront her mother's murderer. Delving into her past, she uncovered the parents she never knew. What she learned - about their public roles and their private lives, including their affairs - shocked and angered her but ultimately gave her the strength to make peace with the past. In a voice that makes the extraordinary sweep of history fresh and intimate, she brings sharply into focus all the brutality of the apartheid system. At the same time, she provides splendid glimpses of the leaders who, like her parents, fought against it."--BOOK JACKET.
Bookmark
http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/7525960
Work ID
7525960

8 editions of this work

Find a specific edition
Thumbnail [View as table] [View as grid] Title, Author, Edition Date Language Format Libraries

User activity


e.g. test cricket, Perth (WA), "Parkes, Henry"

Separate different tags with a comma. To include a comma in your tag, surround the tag with double quotes.

Be the first to add a tag for this work

Be the first to add this to a list

Comments and reviews

What are comments? Add a comment

No user comments or reviews for this work

Add a comment


Show comments and reviews from Amazon users