Shirley, Goodness And Mercy

Paperback. English. Hungry Minds Inc 1996. In good condition.

Shirley, Goodness & Mercy is a heart-warmingly honest story about a young boy growing up in the Coloured township of Riverlea in Johannesburg, South Africa during the apartheid era. Despite Van Wyk's later becoming involved in the anti-apartheid 'struggle', this is not a book about racial politics. Instead, it is a delightful account of one boy's special relationship with the relatives, friends and neighbours - often decidedly quirky - who made up his community, and of the important coping role laughter and humour played during the years he spent in bleak, dusty townships. In Shirley, Goodness & Mercy, Chris van Wyk, poet, novelist and short-story writer, has created a truly remarkable record of life in the Coloured community of South Africa at once both informative and vastly entertaining. Book jacket.