Life during the 1940's and 1950's while living in South Africa seen through the eyes of two white children as they grow up and encounter the many different strokes of a polictically challenged country. The writer wrote with freshness and insight but I found the actual story somewhat contrived being that the main character was not simply a white but a rather middle classed white and so I thought her perspective on things somewhat muddied. I know that perhaps this was intentional by the author but I felt any real impact the author was trying to convey was lost somewhat and it seemed more of a watered-down account of how life really was. I think as a reader I would have appreciated something more gritty, something more real but instead I was watching a movie with all the expletives removed.