Peaches and Smeets , livre ebook

Modjaji Books - Ashti Juggath

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198 pages

English

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'A tender exploration into the beating heart of a community that endured through culture and sacrifice, with such detailed references to life in the 1960s for Indians in Johannesburg and Durban. Smita will live long in the memory of the reader. Well-recommended.' —Shubnum Khan
Growing up in Bakerton, Springs in the 1950s and '60s, Smita (Smeets) Maharaj is puzzled by a great deal of adult behaviour. Why must her tall, handsome father be so obsequious to the police? Why must brown people sit in separate train carriages from white people? Why can't her mother see how much more important it is for her to get a good education than to learn to make the perfect roti?
Caught between the beloved traditions of India and life in a quickly modernising South Africa, between family roots in Natal and a prosperous present in the Transvaal; between the madness of apartheid and the pull of her own desires, Smita struggles to find her feet in a world beset by contradictions. As the Maharaj family expands and grows, and her mother's twin obsessions with producing a son and finding suitable boys for her daughters to marry dominate the family's discourse, Smita wrestles with satisfying her parents' wishes and following her own path as she navigates her way through school and life - and comes to terms with a long-held, painful family secret.

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Littérature Africaine

Romance

Romance LGBT

General officer

General

Fiction

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Publié par	Modjaji Books
Date de parution	19 janvier 2024
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781928215974
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	4 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,3300€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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A NOTE ON THE TERMINOLOGY

Pejorative terms such as ‘coolie’, and ‘girl’ and ‘boy’ for domestic workers and gardeners of any age, were used freely in ofﬁcial documentation and newspapers, and in casual conversation, in South Africa at the time some of this novel is set – the 1950s and 1960s. Historically accurate, these terms are also offensive. They have been used to support the narrative and remain true to the context of the story.

Ableist language, now unacceptable but commonly in use at the time this novel is set, is also employed within the chronological context of the story.

Place names are used as they were at the time in the narrative.

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Published in 2022 by Modjaji Books Cape Town, South Africa www.modjajibooks.co.za © Ashti Juggath All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Edited by Tracey Hawthorne Cover artwork by Carla Kreuser Text design and typesetting by User Friendly Set in Stempel Garamond LT Pro 10.75 on 14.75 pt

ISBN 9781928215967 (print) ISBN 9781928215974 (ebook)

To my children, Adiya, Vidur and Pranav

‘Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.’ – Nora Ephron

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1954: Arrivals and departures

Sitting in the front seat of the car, only her with her father, made Smita feel very important. For this outing, she’d been allowed to wear one of her favourite dresses, a royalblue velvet one with a white satin lacetrimmed collar, and her shiny patentleather shoes that made clicketyclack sounds when she walked. There were very few occasions when she was allowed to dress up – on her birthday, for family weddings and on Diwali – so this was deﬁnitely a treat. She treasured these rare moments alone with Pitaji. For four years she’d been the only child, but then Shruthi had come along, and now there would be another baby soon. The view was quite different from here, compared to when she was sitting in the back with her sister, even though she had to crane her neck a little to see out the windows and over the dashboard, despite having the privilege of sitting on Ma’s pretty cushion. Eyes wide, she stared at the tall buildings in the town, the displays of the mannequins with their elegant clothes and shoes, and the colourful signs outside the shops. These shopfronts with their huge glass windows and the bold, fancy lettering depicting their names – John Orr’s, Greatermans, Stuttaford’s – were a welcome contrast to the otherwise mundane, drab landscape of the highveld.