David Houze

This book presents itself as the author's journey to define himself and answer questions having to do with the choices his mother made prior to bringing him to the United States while leaving three daughters behind in South Africa. Instead of following this interesting storyline, he launches into a rather dry historical treatise on the rationale and impact of apartheid in South Africa.

It is unfortunate that the author misleads the reader on the premise of the book and does not fully satisfy the questions he initially raises about his ethnicity and his quest to define his place in the world. The reasons behind his mother's actions were complicated, yet not unique to the choices mothers in America and South Africa have made for centuries. Further exploration of her mindset or writing a fictionalized version of his story exploring the psychological angst of his sisters would have made his story more satisfying. Instead, he has regurgitated hundreds of pages of statistics and South African historical data, much of which he read in an attempt to come to terms with his life.

Anyone seeking a condensed South African history lesson from a young man's perspective, this is your book. To say I still wish to know more about his mother and his sisters reveals even more about where the book falls short.… (more)