My Mother's Lovers by Christopher Hope

I picked up this book initially because I have read a number of Hope's other books - and the cover looked quite intriguing.

The basic story was about the character's mum - who sounded like an awe-inspiring, rather formidable lady - who travelled Africa in her own plane, and collected lovers in all sorts of odd colonial locations. The main character - her son - explores his relationship with her, and when she dies, he gets to meet many of her lovers through dealing with her bequests.

What is more interesting, however, is the way he describes a wide sweep of events about Africa, especially Southern Africa, and how that impacted on his childhood. His writing is compelling for anyone who has lived in SA, especially in Jo'burg - he nails the psyche of eGoli firmly to the wall - with some hilarious descriptions.

A thought-provoking undertone is how we spells out the basic premise that whites do not belong in Africa - not new, not especially palatable to most of us - but he makes some compelling observations.

There is also an interesting twist to the story at the end. Have a read....