The Girl From Simon's Bay

Title: The Girl From Simon's Bay
Author: Barbara Mutch
Edition: Allison & Busby, 2017
Setting: South Africa
Genre: Historical Fiction

"Simon’s Town is a vibrant and diverse community in a picturesque part of the Union of South Africa, with a Royal Navy port at the town’s heart. Louise Ahrendts, daughter of a shipbuilder, nurtures the dream of becoming a nurse and in a world of unwritten, unspoken rules about colour, she has the strength to make it a reality. As the port becomes a hub of activity following the outbreak of the Second World War, Louise crosses paths with a man she is determined to be with – despite all the obstacles life and conflict throw in their way. But when a new troubled moment of history dawns, can they find their way back to each other?"  

That blurb would lead you to think that this novel is a romance novel.   While there is a romance element to this story of star-crossed lovers in South Africa during World War II, it's really much more about Louise's attempt to live a better life than the society she lives in allows her.   And that story is far more interesting than the romance, which never really rang true to me (an Earl, really?  He couldn't just be, oh an accountant or teacher or something more ordinary and realistic?).  But Louise's journey from school girl to nurse and her struggle to make more of her life while remaining true to her family, friend Piet, and her community is engaging and well written.  Also well written are author's descriptions of her community and especially of the sea Louise loves, even as a small child:

"Infant waves curled towards me over the crystal sand.  Footsteps thundered from behind.  I reached out both hands to seize the oncoming water with its lace of bubbles and fell forward.  Cold, green liquid gurgled into my mouth, lapped at my forehead and just as it started to trickle into my ears, a pair of familiar hands grabbed me around the middle and pulled me clear."

Those hands belong to her father Solly.  Solly, Louise's mother Sheila, her friend Piet and her neighbors all live in the seaside town of Simon's Bay.  As "coloured" people, they have little money and the most difficult jobs, but they have carved out lives for themselves - quite literally out of the steep hillsides that threaten to slide their homes into the sea on occasion.  Louise, a bright child whose parents support her throughout the story, dreams of bigger opportunities than being a maid.  After many struggles she becomes a nurse in the British naval hospital in the town and that is where she meets the story's love interest.  As I said earlier, this part of the story didn't work as well for me (and I felt very sorry for her friend Piet, a boy who cares for her but has no parental support and nothing in the way of opportunity).  Still, it is a fine story with vivid writing, strong characterization, and without going into spoilers, emotionally stirring scenes, like the one in which Louise's family is forcibly moved: 

"The loaders became, if anything, more frenzied in their unpacking than in the packing.  The police had already abandoned our miserable procession at the limits of Simon's Town, so there was no one to watch or possible temper the loaders' attitude if they'd been open to persuasion.  But it was already late afternoon, and clocking off was upper most in their minds.  Our possessions were hurled off the vehicles with no care at all.  Furniture splintered, bags split, suitcases burst open.  The Gamiels, in the truck alongside, had used up all their anger at the start of the day and worked silently, gathering up the disarrayed possessions as best they could."

I'd read about such things in history books, but this is a case where fiction is better at showing the cruelty and harshness and unfairness.

If you're interested in historical fiction on a subject - and indeed, country - that seldom features in such books, or are looking for a novel with strong characters and some lyrical writing, you'll be glad you read The Girl From Simon's Bay.