Threads A Memoir by Kay Daneel

The author is in her seventies and regrets not knowing more about her grandparents and parents. She has recorded parts of her own life for her grandchildren.

“Threads A Memoir” is dedicated to the author’s grandchildren to give them an idea of life in South Africa in the second half of the 1900s. Apartheid South Africa was a very different place to what it is now. Without delving into politics she portrays the privileged and relatively easy lives White people had compared to people of colour.

She also writes about the origins of her grandparents.

She grows up without pressure to achieve academically, resulting in mediocre results. University choices become a challenge and for the first time she experiences failure.

Then there is marriage and two children who become a central part of her life.

Moving from Johannesburg to a guest farm in the Eastern Free State brings about enormous changes for the family. Country life was a new experience for the two families involved. In spite of limited finances it was a novel, enriching experience.

After eight years of country living the family moves to the Western Cape where new interests and work opportunities arise for the author and her husband. Their children embark on their own careers and their lives create other avenues and travel opportunities.