This is the third book about the author’s life in South Africa. In Highveld Ways, Valerie and her daughters join her husband in Johannesburg and begin a decade of life in and around the city. During the years that follow her arrival in 1989, Valerie explores the Highveld area on which Johannesburg is built and despite her rural leanings, she learns to love South Africa’s biggest, baddest city and … and its environs.
The family move house five times and each new home brings its own memories and adventures, including trips to Namibia, Zimbabwe and other parts of South Africa. The backcloth to this memoir is the turbulent political upheaval of the early nineties as well as the emergence of the New South Africa under Nelson Mandela. While no story about South Africa at the time can escape the often violent lead-up to the changes, Valerie’s memories are focused on the events, the places and above all, the people who filled her life at the time.
Anecdotal rather than chronological, this book mixes the ups and downs of family life with history, political change and descriptions of local places. To do the decade justice would really take five books, not one, so the intention is rather to give an impression of what it was was like to live in Johannesburg in the notorious nineties.
more
A brilliant read of the author’s experience of life in Johannesburg, South Africa at a time of immense political and social change. The author writes about her personal life with her husband and two daughters, the various house moves they have to make (five in six years), working at the different jobs and the challenges faced at every turn. The author’s resilience and strength of character shine through as she tackles all the changes she has to deal with. Along with her personal story, through the book are the turbulent political changes taking place. The first election following the end of Apartheid when Nelson Mandela came to power and the shifting cultural and social landscape. Historical events of the time, as well as the past history of South Africa, are touched on adding interest for the reader. The various holidays and times in neighbouring countries describe the landscapes, the wildlife and gives a glimpse of other aspects of the amazing continent of Africa. Highly recommended.
I enjoyed this book particularly as it took me back to my days of living in Johannesburg – we must have been there at about the same time. The gentle day to day descriptions of the traffic jams, the daily routine, the special places to visit, they are all in this book. A great, and for me, nostalgic read.
I loved this third book on Val’s life in Africa. Well written and entertaining from beginning to end.
Life in Johannesburg in the nineties. A fascinating read.
Returning to South Africa to give her marriage another chance, Val was met at the airport by a husband who hadn’t yet removed his girlfriend from his home. After a week in a hotel, Val arrives with her two daughters to a home where the girlfriend’s dog was still in residence and the maid was openly hostile. Not exactly the best start to proceedings. This book covers both Val’s own life story, but it is also set against the backdrop of unprecedented changes in South Africa, including the historic election of Nelson Mandela as president. Travels, holidays, work and family are all brought to life by this engaging and talented author, who transports you to a different world and captivates you with her words.
Homeless in Two Countries
When Val Poore got the call from her husband assuring her he wanted to end their separation and asking her to come back to Africa, she acquiesced in spite of reservations. They had two daughters—and Val loved Africa.
When Bill met Val at the airport he zapped her with a high voltage shock. He was installing them in a hotel for a few days because the woman he had been living with hadn’t moved out yet—and didn’t for another week.
Val proved her mettle by staying rather than flying back to England, her birth country. More shocks were imminent. The “other woman” who had broken their marriage in the first place left behind a spiteful maid and two old dogs, but took all the furniture. Val and her daughters arrived “home” to an empty house. Val proved her mettle by staying.
Over the next ten years, Val repeatedly proved her mettle by sticking to both her marriage and her adopted country through the upheaval of dismantling apartheid and dealing with increasing crime and violence. And sticking to jobs that she hated—jobs requiring math skills, even though she suffers from dyscalculia.
Val witnessed historic events: the election of Nelson Mandela as President; standing in line to vote with blacks when they were allowed to vote for the first time; celebrating the Springbok rugby team’s World Cup win; visiting the Big Hole World Heritage Site, a closed diamond mine dating back to 1871.
Proving her mettle, Val trained for and finished The Argus, a 105K bike race. But no matter how much mettle a person has, some things are too big to fight. When Affirmative Action swept through the country replacing white workers with black, and when her errant husband left her and the girls again—this time moving to Rotterdam—Val found herself homeless in two different countries.
Highveld Ways paints a poignant picture of lovely Africa as only one who loves it can. Without recriminations or blame, Val Poore shares a part of her life that tested her mettle—as surely as writing the memoir must have tested it.
You passed, Val. You passed.