Eight year old Rosalinde has grown up in an idyllic version of Africa in the comfort of a palatial home called Sea Breeze, with Vervet monkeys in her garden and a view of the Umhlanga lighthouse from her bedroom window. 

 But when she collides with apartheid in the summer of 1982, and her mother translates apartheid into a rule she must obey, her entire belief system is thrown into chaos and the infrastructure of her world begins to decay.

 Mainly set in Durban over two decades Rosalinde’s tumultuous coming of age story parallels the years of apartheid’s climactic end, against an increasingly violent backdrop, and she learns that the human condition of her motherland is far more complex than she ever imagined.

 With a fast-paced, dramatic storyline—family saga, romance, political unrest—striking locations—Skeleton Coast, Karoo, Sun City, KwaMashu—and a host of vivid characters—Mohini, the mystical Hindu maid; the predatory, racist Uncle Léon; Paris, the charismatic African student and his radical cousin Maleven; Mark, the ex-soldier—this debut novel has all the hallmarks of an unforgettable coming of age story.