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Rooikraal Revisited: Farming During Apartheid
Short Stories by Dylan Weston

Rooikraal Revisited: Farming During Apartheid is an autobiographical and nostalgic study of a life left behind. Dylan Weston lived on a dairy farm, Rooikraal, during the Apartheid regime and this collection documents the people, places, interests, and recollections of life in rural South Africa. The bitterness of Apartheid, its inhumanity, is shown - but also the good will of the common folk who shared their lives on these "islands of civilisation" known as farms is appreciated and enjoyed.

Some of the stories tell of the political impact on the lives of common people, while others tell of human suffering and superstition. Several stories describe adventures with animals - farm animals generally, but also the great serpent the Rinkhals. The stories are all true and the experiences real

About the Author.

Though Dylan Weston now lives in California, the colourful and often humorous stories she has written in this collection come out of her direct experience of life on two farms in South Africa during the Apartheid years. They are interesting not only for the characters and situations they describe, but for the light they shed on an historical era now forever (many will say thankfully!) consigned to the past.

Read one of the stories from Rooikraal Revisited.

Synopsis

The short story collection by Dylan Weston (entitled: Rooikraal Revisited: Farming During Apartheid) is an autobiographical and nostalgic study in a life left behind. She lived on a dairy farm, Rooikraal, during the Apartheid regime and this collection documents the people, places, interests, and recollections of life in rural South Africa. The bitterness of Apartheid, its inhumanity, is shown - but also the good will of the common folk who shared their lives on these "islands of civilisation" known as farms is appreciated and enjoyed.

Some of the stories tell of the political impact on the lives of common people, while others tell of human suffering and superstition. Several stories describe adventures with animals - farm animals generally, but also the great serpent the Rinkhals. The stories are all true and the experiences real.

This is a period of South African life under white domination which has been swept away, and yet on seeing the destruction not of a political system but a thriving community - Rooikraal - great nostalgia fills the author. The people she knew and loved are gone. There are few traces of their lives and the sense of community, once present, left on Rooikraal.

The lesson of life, which she learns, is that one can never return to the land of yore; it lives only in the heart and memory - where in the retelling it seems to gain a sense of reality.

The following review of Rooikraal Revisited has appeared in Amazon.com:

Move over, Isak Dinesen April 20, 2000

Rooikraal Revisited is a poignant account of the author's life on a farm in Africa during Apartheid. Always vivid, often touching, and sometimes disturbing, Weston's stories introduce us to the colorful characters - both black and white - who were part of her experience, detail events in that unique time and culture, and share some valuable insights regarding racism, humanity, and the passage of time. Particularly haunting is the story entitled "Elizabeth's Potato; " I read this some time ago and still can't get it out of my head. The only criticism I have about the collection is that I wanted some of the stories to be longer; I wanted to know more

The following review of Rooikraal Revisited has appeared in Barnes & Noble:
Number of Reviews: 1 Average Rating:

M Emami (Emami505@cs.com), a fan of Dylan's work., June 19, 2000,
What a great read!
This book is a great read! Entertaining, interesting & very warm! What an interesting time captured so eloquently. I can't wait for Dylan Weston to get some more of her work out there.