Аннотация

When, in the 1990s, Wilhelm Verwoerd spoke out against his grandfather's racist policies, his father called him a traitor. After many years of working in Northern Ireland, brokering peace between former enemies, he returns to his homeland to make his own peace. Back home, as he listens to his black neighbours' and friends' painful stories of the past, he struggles to reconcile the hated symbol of apartheid with the loving husband he encounters in Betsie Verwoerd's intimate diaries. This moving memoir examines the complexities of having Verwoerd blood in your veins in the full knowledge that HF Verwoerd had blood on his hands. It is an unflinchingly honest look at loyalty, kinship and the demands of restitution in South Africa.

Аннотация

Ná jare van versoeningswerk tussen eertydse vyande in Ierland keer Wilhelm Verwoerd terug na Suid-Afrika. Hy wil vrede maak met sy eie familie en sy geskiedenis. In die Verwoerd-strandhuis, Blaas 'n Bietjie, waar hy sit en skryf, hang 'n gesinsfoto waarop sy oupa, HF Verwoerd, hom as baba teer vashou. Hoe versoen hy dié menslike oupa met die gehate onderdrukker wat in die stories van sy swart bure en kennisse na vore kom, mense wat as kinders in die strate gedans het toe sy oupa vermoor is? In sy soektog na begrip kom Wilhelm op ouma Betsie Verwoerd se private dagboeke af en voer hy soms ongemaklike gesprekke met mense wat sy van as vloekwoord onthou. So ontvou 'n geskakeerde blik op wat dit beteken om vandag met integriteit in Suid-Afrika te leef.