What a well written book!

What a sad, sad book!

Yvette relates in this book the life of Sila, a female slave in the southern parts of Africa. She uses legal documents from a courtvase in 1823. At this time slavery was very much part of daily life. The Boer lived in their own world (notwithstanding English rule) and they did not not see any profit in ending slavery.

Sila from an area in presentday Mozambique. She works on a farm, just like a few other slaves. The Lady of the manor promises Sila and the other that at her death they will gain their freedom. But things work out differently. She is moved to another farm and another one and so on. She and other female slaves serve as breeding machines, to raise a new generation of slaves. A white farmer does not shy away from taking part in this. And so a group of coloured people come into existence.

Sila is a strong willed woman who resist what happens to her and others. In the end she spends time in prison on Robben Island. Even there she is misused and abused. She tells stories to her son who is no longer with her. What has happened to her son is not made clear, but the signs are evident.

Yvette Christiansë – Unconfessed – 2006