Customer Reviews
an exceptional political memoir about South Africa - By: , 24 Apr 2001 
Gillian Slovo, 1997: Every Little Thing; my family, my country London: Abacus.
By any standard, this is an exceptional political memoir about the meaning of commitment to the cause of a multi-racial South Africa. Gillian, the daughter of Ruth First & Joe Slovo, has given us a profound insight into the tensions between the public & private lives of her parents, two of the ANC's best-known figures. Starting with the murder of her motherin Maputoin 1982, the author moves by a series of flashbacks from her childhood recollections of the verdant suburbs of Johannesburgin the early 1960s to yearsin exile & ultimately, the triumph of the ANC, the new South Africa & Joe's untimely death from cancerin 1995. But this is no simple memoir: it is a search to piece together the private identities of two exceptional political figures whose children perceived them onlyin fleeting glimpses during the turbulent years of confinement, exile & separation. Against Joe's wishes, his journalist daughter has pieced together the private lives behind the politics. This is a book about the emotional price paid by the Ruth, Joe & their children for 30 years of political struggle, a story told with an exceptional lucidity & compassion. It is essential reading for anybody who seeks to understand how grim was the struggle against apartheid.
G W Irvin
Emotionally moving and intellectually challenging - By: Mr. M. H. Dewey, 06 Jan 2001 
I thoroughly enjoyed this sensitive account of the author's relationship with her parents. It works on so many levels. It gives insights into South African politics & society from an unusual perspective. The description of Joe Slovo's funeral from the daughter's perspective is particularly strong. It discusses the tension between public & private duties - again from the perspective of a daughter who is honest enough to admit to some resentment towards the time spent by her parentsin political struggle.It also deals with the story of the daughter's search for the "truth", & her doubts as to the word's meaning.This is a common enough themein many post-modern novels; rarely has the theme been rootedin such rich soil. The scenein which the author meets one of the men responsible for her mother's murder is emotionally moving & intellectually challenging.
