Ester

In 1940 a German agent, Mrs Thyra Denk, met D.F. Malan in Cape Town, told him that a victorious Germany would let South Africa absorb Bechuanaland and Rhodesia, and urged him to argue for neutrality. In 1946 parliament sets up a select committee to look into the meeting, which could end Malan’s career with a charge of treason. Warrant Officer Dieter Bergman, a bachelor stationed at Piet Retief, is sent with two constables to fetch her from the family farm north-east of Windhoek and bring her to Cape Town by train. Over the three days of the journey he falls under her spell, as does the young lawyer Willa Doerkstra, sent by Malan’s camp to see that her story matches his. Railwaymen and a dance band share the train, and doubts grow about what was said in 1940, and about who she really is.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novel

Length

336 pages in the original

Genres

Historical, Love, Politics (assigned by AI)

Set in

South Africa, 1940

First published

2014 by Human & Rousseau

Author's age

62 when first published

ISBN

9780798167956 (original)