Bernadette Kiewiet
Author
New Release
Life's Soiled Red Earth
(2023)
A harrowing and heart-breaking story of a five-year-old girl abandoned by her family in the midst of Apartheid South Africa. Marlene Neuman is removed from her hometown, below the slopes of Table Mountain, Cape Town, to a missionary, hundreds of miles away, at the northern border of South Africa. In the harsh unknown surroundings, she must fend off abuse from those she recognized as her own and bend to the rules of a Catholic orphanage. Her journey to adulthood is filled with twists and turns, as fate carves the pathway further away from stability and peace.
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​She experiences the devastation caused by the government's segregation rules in every aspect of her life and in the bonds she forms with those around her. Like many other South Africans of that time, she eventually finds herself drawn into the struggle against the unjust laws of her country. She finds and loses loved ones, until she must take refuge, when the brutal South African security forces hunt her. As they begin to close in on her and the man she realises she loves, is it too late?
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I write this as the editor of Bernadette's book, not as a professional but as a reader who found great value in the story of Marlene. This is a story that needs telling: it is of pain and love, courage and conviction, loss and hope. While it reads as fiction, its truth tells us of the history of a country that still struggles with many of the same complex difficulties, unspoken challenges and unheard pain. I learnt through Marlene's story that we need to be open to the lived experiences of others in order to better understand human nature in its entirety, human resilience at its fullest and the power we have to move forward together. It is not a light read but it is an important one.
Praise & Reviews
​This is a harrowing tale of life in South Africa during the days of apartheid. It's not an easy book to read as it portrays the harshness of the government towards non-whites. The author tells a story of the experiences of the Nama Khoi, an ethnic group in South Africa. In this novel, the reader follows the main character, Marlene Neuman as she is taken away from the home she knows. Her parents have abandoned her and she experiences abuse in the orphanage that is meant to be a refuge to her. Throughout her life, she is forced to find the resolve to deal with constant challenges as she encounters love, friendship and in the process starts to develop her political will.
A quest for love and a sense of belonging in a vulnerable orphan girl not giving up on her humanity as she fights for her survival after her life is thrown upside down by Apartheid laws. She eventually finds the peace and love she yearns for during the tumultuous time in which she experiences tremendous loss and trauma due to Apartheid. Gripping, realistic and educational about the Nama-Khoi indigenous culture and Apartheid. In the end love wins, as always.
See Upcoming Appearances
Bernadette Kiewiet is a new author whose debut novel is available now. Join her for various upcoming events to get to know her writing and engage with her directly.
Kuils River Library Book Launch
This historical, first event of my book's promotion resonated with the building, because it's one of the oldest in the Northern suburbs, where I currently also live in the oldest house of the neighbourhood, Brantwood. This complimented the setting in my historical book and together with librarians Pearl, Patricia, the library's book club, and a former classmate of 44-years ago, Hyram Doolings an interesting and fun-filled atmosphere made this a memorable time.
About Bernadette Kiewiet
Ironically, Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa, displays its best view to the residents of Bokmakierie as if in defiance of the 60s apartheid Group Areas Act, which resulted in evictions from its lower slopes to the dry, windy, sandy area stretched out below. In the middle of this township, our street extended towards it. Here, surrounded by its magnetic field, my love for writing blossomed. In our two-bedroomed council house, I wrote stories for my siblings. I also penned plays. Through school holidays, clad in newspaper costumes, these were held in our bedroom. One of my stories, written at this time, aired on the long-time closed Springbok Radio.
After matric 1979, I mostly worked at administrative government departments. I married four years later, and stayed at home until I raised my three children. After my youngest son started university. I re-entered the work field. Our house emptied, but the little feet of one grandchild, and ten years later another, filled it again, and this year, another one was born. I left employment in 2016 and completed both Creative Writing- and Copy-editing/ Proofreading Certificate Courses at the University of Cape Town's Getsmarter-online tutoring. I'm also a member of the Professional Editor's Guild and passed fiction- and self-editing mentoring courses facilitated by John-David Linnegar. I finished this novel in 2019. In September, the same year, one of my many short stories, was published in the City of Cape Town's Open Book Festival anthology. I plan to write many more stories.
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