The Girl from Simon's Bay

Just when I had decided that I would not read another novel with that hackneyed “Girl” in the title, the synopsis of this one caught my eye so I had to make an exception. I have many happy memories of childhood holidays in the area of Simonstown and False Bay in the Cape Province of South Africa where this story is set. (As my parents were on holiday there nine months before my birth date, I have a sneaky feeling that I might even have been conceived somewhere near Simonstown!)
 
Louise Ahrendts is of Cape Malay origins, and lives with her parents in a cottage with a view of the sea. Her father works at the maritime base servicing the ships of the Royal Navy. Louise is expected to marry her childhood sweetheart, fisherman, Piet Philander. But she has other ideas and is determined to first have a career as a nurse in spite of Piet’s objections and her family’s doubts. She manages to gain a position in a hospital that usually only employs white nurses and when World War II breaks out she is seconded to work at the Royal Naval Hospital. It is there that she meets and falls in love with English Lieutenant David Horricks and everything about her life is turned upside down.
 
There are too few romantic novels set in South Africa. The power of its history can make it difficult. This paragraph touches on this when one of the characters is about to arrive by ship at Capetown and a fellow passenger asks her what brings her to South Africa, whether she is a writer:
 
“The young man pointed at the purple mountains growing in splendour as the ship approached Table Bay. ‘Well, there’s everything here. Beauty. Cruelty. Humanity. You won’t lack material’.”
 
And there is definitely beauty, cruelty and humanity throughout this gracefully-crafted novel. There is beauty in its setting of sea and mountains. The narrative abounds with humanity; you care about the characters and what happens to them. When Apartheid became official and people were classified according to their skin colour - “Cape Coloured, Malay, Griqua, Indian, Chinese, Other Asian and Other Coloured” - there is no denying the cruelty when they are forced to move away from their traditional homes and way of life.
 
The title aside, one might also quibble over the possibility of some scenarios but they pale into insignificance next to the telling of this love affair that does not follow a predictable path. It is poignant and absorbing, and ultimately very satisfying. I am truly delighted to discover this considerate and sympathetic author and look forward to reading more of Barbara Mutch’s stories set in South Africa.
 
 
Five stars (and you’ll need your tissues!)


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