Living, Loving and Lying Awake at Night

For those of you who read The Help, whether you like it or not but especially if you had a problem with any realism of the subject matter, you should read this last book that I read. It is called Living, Loving and Lying Awake at Night and is by Sindiwe Magona. The first half of it is about domestic help in South Africa. The second half is a grouping of short stories of domestic help there also. I could not put it down. I began it late last night and read a third of it before I fell asleep and woke when the book smacked my nose. I finished it when we got home from town tonight. I found it to be very fascinating and there are a couple of real heart grabbers amongst the shorts. I rated it a 5* read and very highly recommend it. ( )

This book is a collection of stories divided into two parts. The first part is a ring of connected, gossipy by black South African women working as domestic servants for whites. The pieces, which really highlight the different personalities of each women, and read like oral pieces (if that's possible) are written in first person and are directed to another of the women. I had the distinct feeling I had read these before, but I think the stories are similar to ones I read in '07 in a memoir called Singing Away the Hunger: The Autobiography of an African Woman by Mpho Matsepo Nthunya.

The second part is comprised of several standard short stories set in the 60s through the late 80s, during the Apartheid system in South Africa, at least one story set during some of attempts at reforms in the 80s. The stories are bleak, often tragic, and several were very powerful. There was at least one I would deem "delightful". It was told by a young girl who detailed what her wonderful Fridays were like. This is an important collection, but I could not help but wonder about the stories now. I'm not so naive as to think that the vestiges of such a longtime segregation policy do not linger, but I wondered if the stories now were more hopeful. ( )