No Turning Back: A Novel of South
Africa (1995) is set in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1994, just before Nelson
Mandela became the nation’s first black president.
Sipho is a 12-year-old boy fleeing his
sleeping mother and abusive step-father one early morning. With money stolen
from his mother’s purse, he leaves the rural slums and heads for the capital
city, Johannesburg.
Mixing with a group of street children
he does odd jobs for money – pushing shopping trolleys and parking cars – until
Mr Danny, a white shopkeeper, lets him work at his store six days a week. Mr
Danny has a daughter Judy and an 11-year-old son David. David has been
‘difficult’ since his mother left. David doesn’t like Sipho, but as Judy says,
‘At the moment, he doesn’t like anyone.’
Sipho returns to the streets and looks
for his friends, until he seeks refuge at a homeless shelter and the shelter’s
school. It is not like his previous school.
This is brief, quick read in a simple
style about the search for a better life. It is also about friendships, family
relationships, trust, and survival. It is a little too simplistic, the
characters lack depth, and the political tensions are not brought to the fore,
making this a less than memorable book.
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom
(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest
Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The
Sudan Curse (2009).
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