Clare Houston: An Unquiet Place

The inboekseling system is a part of South African history not widely known. The slave trade finally came to an official end in 1838 after a mandatory four-year period of ‘apprenticeship’ to acclimatise slaves to being free. It is clear that slavery or ‘apprenticeship’ practices continued beyond this date, because in 1851 the British government sent commissioners to negotiate with the Voortrekkers the terms by which they could govern themselves. Part of the provisions of this Sand River Convention agreement was that the Voortrekkers desist from their inboekseling practice. Nevertheless, there are records of magistrates registering children as ‘apprenticed’ to households beyond this date.

Thank you so much to everyone at Penguin Random House South Africa for publishing this novel, but especially to Fourie Botha and Beth Lindop for taking a risk on this first-time author, for your gentle accommodations and encouragement. To Claire Strombeck, editor whizz, for making double quick time and turning a manuscript into a real novel. Your humour and warm engagement with the text gave me a (usually impossible) insight into a reader’s thoughts. To Dr Garth Benneyworth who, in the early days of this story, allowed me a fascinating peek into concentration-camp archaeology, giving me thoughtful answers to foolish questions and actually making my plot credible. To Prof. Fransjohan Pretorius for generously answering a series of emails about life on commando. To David and Heather Doull, for a grippingly macabre discussion over lunch about paramedic protocol and fatal injuries. To my hosts at De Molen Farm near Clarens, for telling me stories of the valley, showing me the site of the old house destroyed by the British, and letting me find pieces of broken, charred china in the sheep pen. Nothing could have inspired me more to finish my manuscript than your cottage. To Bridget Latter, Lin Visser, and Phil Murray, my readers – your willingness to read and give honest feedback is testament to a long friendship. To Diane Stewart, thank you for walking beside me through the first two years of writing, for your encouragement and wisdom in a foreign world. To my family, who have shown all the excitement and pride about this process that I’ve been too scared to feel. And to Peter, my rock, who encouraged me to give myself permission to dream and then chase those dreams.

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© 2018 Clare Houston

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First edition, first printing 2018

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ISBN 978-1-4152-0962-2 (Print)

ISBN 978-1-4152-1024-6 (ePub)

Cover design by Riaan Willemse

Author photograph by Shane Doyle

Text design by Fahiema Hallam

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