Masquerade
The story of my life
by Rayda Jacobs
"It was never my intention to write my memoirs at this stage. After the publication of Confessions of a Gambler, however, and all the hoopla and hype around it, especially as it pertained to the main character in the book and whether the story is a true one or not, I looked into my heart long and hard – who are you Rayda Jacobs? – and thought it better to write it now." So states Rayda Jacobs on the back cover of the book.
One gets the feeling that after the success of Confessions of a Gambler Rayda Jacobs was pressurized into producing her "memoirs" by the publishers who knew they had a potential seller. Like so many things that are done in a hurry, with a deadline and not too much time to agonize, it is remarkably successful.
One gets the feeling that after the success of Confessions of a Gambler Rayda Jacobs was pressurized into producing her "memoirs" by the publishers who knew they had a potential seller. Like so many things that are done in a hurry, with a deadline and not too much time to agonize, it is remarkably successful.
I expected it to be more pedantic and "this is what Apartheid did to me"-like, but she is too skilled a writer to fall into that trap. Instead of rubbing your face in politics or worse still, self-pity, she sets out her life, its ups and downs, achievements and disappointments, and the reader is left to "feel" what life in late apartheid South Africa must have been like from the perspective of a young, "coloured", Muslim girl.
It is written in a simple, easy and compelling way, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had not even read her books - to my shame - and now am chasing them down and reading them! And I want to see the movie too.
Her increasing absorption with religion is a bit off-putting to me, but nevertheless, like all her writings, quite intriguing.
I am still trying to work out why she called the book Masquerade. Perhaps because one of the pivotal events in the book is when she "masquerades" as a "white" in order to attend the National Business Institute in Cape Town, a whites-only establishment, there being nothing similar for "coloureds". This catches up with her when she is found out by the sinister Apartheid government, and the incident leads to her decision to leave the country for Canada. The shocking part really is that she later discovered that she was ratted on by a jealous relative, another sad and degrading fact about life under Apartheid.
Rayda Jacobs, was born in Cape Town and grew up in the Diepriver area. She left for Toronto, Canada in 1968 and lived there for 27 years. She sent her first story to Springbok Radio at the age of twelve, and in 1994, her collection of short stories, The Middle Children, was published in Canada and in 1995 her first novel, Eyes of the Sky won the Herman Charles Bosman prize for English fiction. The Slave Book (1998) was followed by Sachs Street. The latter three books can be viewed as a trilogy, but each can stand on its own. Her latest novel Confessions of a Gambler, won the Sunday Times Literary Award for Fiction and the Herman Charles Bosman Award in 2004 and has been made into a movie starring Rayda herself.
This comment on Masquerade by Rayda Jacobs (Umuzi, 2008)by Caroline.
Woodlands Bookclub rating: 4
Book no 2151 (Alison)
Book no 2151 (Alison)
