A Night of Their Own
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1965. First American Edition [stated], Presumed First printing. Hardcover. ix, [1], 236, [8] pages. Characters. Previous owner's bookplate inside the front cover. The dust jacket has wear, soiling, tears and chips. This work was dedicated to the author's friends Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela. Peter Henry Abrahams Deras (3 March 1919 – 18 January 2017), commonly known as Peter Abrahams, was a South African-born novelist, journalist and political commentator who in 1956 settled in Jamaica, where he lived for the rest of his life. In 1939, Abrahams left South Africa, and worked first as a sailor, and then settled in London, where he was a journalist. While working in London, Abrahams meet several important black leaders and writers. He faced considerable challenges as a South African. Despite a manuscript reader's recommendation against publication, in 1942 Allen & Unwin brought out his Dark Testament, made up mostly of pieces he had carried with him from South Africa. Dorothy Crisp published his novels Song of the City (1945) and Mine Boy (1946). Mine Boy became "the first African novel written in English to attract international attention." More books followed with publication in Britain and the United States: two novels —The Path of Thunder (1948) and Wild Conquest (1950); a journalistic account of a return journey to Africa, Return to Goli (1953); and a memoir, Tell Freedom (1954). In 1956, Abrahams settled in Jamaica,[9] where he continued novels and memoirs, also working as a journalist and radio commentator. In 1994 he was awarded the Musgrave Gold Medal for his writing and journalism by the Institute of Jamaica. Derived from a Kirkus review: Peter Abrahams is a South African living in Jamaica. This is his sixth novel. A Night of Their Own is set in contemporary South Africa and is concerned with the complicated racial situation there. Richard Nkosi, alias Richard Dube, a Negro artist of South African origin, returns to his native land as a courier for the black underground movement. He lands on the Zululand coast with a vast sum of money and is secreted away by the Indian elements of the freedom movement. The presence of the Indians in the underground is in itself touching for they are discriminated against both by black and white but feel that their chances for survival are best with the anti-apartheid forces. Nkosi's mission is discovered by the white security agents and the net surrounding the resistance movement grows tighter as he is hunted down. His final escape ironically is affected through the aid of a reactionary Indian businessman and an uncommitted sea captain. The book is interesting in terms of the situation it describes [as well as] in the characters it presents. Condition: Very good / Fair.
Keywords: Richard Nkosi, Richard Dube, Negro, South Africa, Courier, Underground Movement, Zululand, Freedom, Discrimination, Apartheid, Security Agents, Resistance Movement, Hunted, Escape, Racism
[Book #90205]
Price: $45.00