Book of the year

Solomon's Story by Judy Froman  (Pan Macmillan)

We have all heard about the ANC training camps in Mozambique and Angola, but not many stories have been written about what it was like being part of them. This is a “fictional account” of the true story of Solomon Mahlangu, a young man caught up in the process of protest and imprisonment and trial in 1977. It can hardly be called justice. The style is simple, blunt, direct. Straight-forward language and uncomplex sentences for greater impact. Using several storytellers, it makes bitter reading. The standard school history book of the time apparently emphasized: “The tree of liberty grows stronger when watered with the blood of martyrs.” Solomon is destined to be among them.

One of the good men in the story is Ismail Mahomed who rose, later, to be the Chief Justice of South Africa. Much of the trial procedure comes from actual case records. A slice of our history, well researched and clearly told. May we all be ashamed. With a list of facts and dates, and a glossary.

An echo from our South African past that makes a stunning, saddening addition to our youth literature. Well worthy to be the Bookchat Book of the Year 2011.