Poen was going to proof-read When Time Fails – just as he had A Beautiful Family – but time failed us too. He never even got to read it. I will always regret that, because I’m sure his comments and suggestions could only have improved the final product.
Thanks to my brave and beautiful daughter Laura, for stepping into her father’s shoes and handling the proof-reading for me. And to my younger daughter, Jessica, for taking on the mantel of sounding board and giving me the idea to continue what I started with A Beautiful Family and When Time Fails. Thanks to her, the third book in which I’m now starting to think of as “the Alan Silverman trilogy” is in the works.
I must also thank Annelize Crosby, Legal and Policy Advisor at Agri SA for her invaluable information about the land reform process in South Africa. This helped me to shape the plot of When Time Fails.
Paul Engelbrecht (jnr) and Juandre Snyman allowed me to pick their brains during a family celebration, saving me having to wade through pages and pages of information about pilot training in South Africa. I thank them and wish them both enormous success in their future flying careers.
Once again, I must thank the brilliant Francois Engelbrecht for designing the most amazing cover for When Time Fails. He did it for A Beautiful Family and he has outdone himself again.
My thanks too, to my editor, John Hudspith, for his insightful comments and suggestions which have contributed to making this novel so much better than it would otherwise have been.
Finally, my thanks must go to my extended family and friends – those I know and the many, many who became friends after A Beautiful Family was published. Thank you for your support: thank you for buying A Beautiful Family and so allowing me to think of myself as a “real” author. Without you and your encouragement – emails, comments on my Facebook page, in reviews, in online reader groups – I don’t believe I would have been able to complete and publish When Time Fails. I hope you enjoy it and I look forward to bringing you the next instalment in The Silverman Saga.
Marilyn Cohen de Villiers
Glossary
ANC
African National Congress – one of the liberation movements involved in the fight against Apartheid. Won the first democratic elections (with Nelson Mandela as President) and continues to be the ruling party in South Africa.
APLA
Azanian People’s Liberation Army – the military wing of the PAC
Armed Struggle
The struggle by liberation movements such as the ANC and PAC against the Apartheid regime in South Africa
Baas
Boss
Bakkie
Pick-up truck
Bangbroek
Cowardly (literally: scaredy pants)
Bioscope
Cinema
Boer
A farmer. Can be used pejoratively to refer to or imply a right-wing, racist (usually Afrikaans-speaking) person.
Boer War
Also known as Anglo Boer War and South African War. The 1899 – 1902 war between the Boer Republics (Zuid Afrikaanse Republic – later Transvaal in the Union of South Africa; and Orange Free State) and the United Kingdom.
Boereboontjies
A popular dish of mashed green beans and potato
Boud
Roast meat – usually a leg of lamb/mutton
Braai
Barbeque
Brak
Mongrel
Boontjiebredie
Bean stew
Broekie lace
Metal filigree decoration
Charfing
Teasing
Commie
Communist – used generically to refer to anyone who opposed the Apartheid government
Cozzie
Swimming costume
Dankie Vader
Thank you Father
Doek
Headscarf
Dof
Stupid
Dominee
Reverend
Donner
Beat up
Dop
Alcoholic drink
Dorp
Town or village
Eina
Ouch. An expression of pain. A child’s way of referring to an injury
Flick
Movie
Haai
Hey!
Hamba
Go
Hendsopper
Literally: someone who puts their hands up. Used pejoratively for those boer fighters who surrendered during the Anglo Boer War.
Hotnot
Pejorative term for a Coloured (mixed race) person
Kaffirs
(Pejorative) blacks (niggers)
Khaya
House. Used to refer to the houses or compound where workers live
Kleinmissie
Young miss. (A polite way to address the boss’ daughter)
Koppie
Little hill/ very small mountain
Jislaaik / Jissie
Expression of surprise like Goodness gracious/Gee Wizz
Laaitie
Young boy
Lappie
Rag or cloth
Liefie
Lovie / darling
Colloquial name for the black township usually found on the outskirts of white towns
MK
Umkhonto we Sizwe – Spear of the Nation. The military wing of the ANC
Maties
Stellenbosch University
Mma
(Sotho) Mother. Also a polite way to address an older woman, even a stranger.
Moffie
Homosexual
Nou hier kom ’n ding
Expression that roughly means: trouble is on the way
Oke
Bloke/guy
Oom
Uncle – also a polite way to address an older man, even a stranger.
Ouderling
Elder
Ouma
Grandmother
Oupa
Grandfather
Pa se klein bulletjie
Daddy’s little bull – an affectionate way to refer to a boy child
PAC
Pan African Congress - one of the liberation movements involved in the fight against Apartheid
Pap
Maize meal porridge
Pastorie
Rectory
Plaasjapie
Country bumpkin
Posbus
P O Box
Pragtig
Pretty
Radio Sonder Grense
A popular national Afrikaans radio station
Robot
Traffic light
Seun
Boy / son
Skinner
Malicious gossip
Stoep
Verandah or patio
Tannie
Aunt. Also a polite way to address an older woman, even a stranger.
Terr
Terrorist
The border
Literally, the border between South West Africa (now Namibia) and Angola where a decades-long war between South Africa and its allies, and their opponents in Angola and South West Africa took place. South African conscripts sent to fight in the conflict were “going to the border”.
Tjhee
No
Tukkies
Pretoria University
Voortrekkers
Dutch/Afrikaans farmers/pioneers who moved away from the British rule in the Cape Colony in the 1830’s and settled in the interior of the country.
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Connecting independent readers to independent writers.
Did you love When Time Fails? Then you should read A Beautiful Family by Marilyn Cohen de Villiers!
When Johannesburg socialite Brenda Silverman dies in mysterious circ
umstance in her palatial, well secured home, questions are inevitable.
Did she commit suicide? Was it an accidental drug overdose? Or did her death have something to do with her husband, Alan?
Alan Silverman is a handsome, charming businessman with impeccable credentials: a former political activist who fled South Africa in the 1980s and returned to help build the new democracy; a loving husband and devoted father; a pillar of Johannesburg's Jewish community; and an intimate of South Africa's ruling African National Congress elite. He is also a man hiding a terrible secret.
Tracy Jacobs, a young journalist, is assigned to cover the story but as her investigations start to uncover cracks in the beautiful Silverman family facade, she finds herself in conflict with her own community.
Will Brenda's inquest finally reveal the truth?
Spanning nearly forty years and three countries (South Africa, England and Israel), A Beautiful Family confirms a horrible reality: that "things like that" can and do happen to people just like us.
Read more at Marilyn Cohen de Villiers’s site.
Also by Marilyn Cohen de Villiers
Silverman Saga
A Beautiful Family
When Time Fails
Deceive and Defend (Coming Soon)
Watch for more at Marilyn Cohen de Villiers’s site.
About the Author
I was born and raised in Johannesburg's northern suburbs, the youngest daughter of an extraordinarily ordinary, happy, stable, traditional (rather than observant) Jewish family. After matriculating at Northview High School, I went to Rhodes University in Grahamstown where I completed a B. Journalism degree. This was followed by a "totally useless" - according to my parents - English Honours degree (first class), also at Rhodes.
I started my career as a reporter on a daily newspaper at the dawning of the turbulent 1980s. During this period, I interviewed, among others, Frank Sinatra, Jeffrey Archer, Eugene Terre'blanche and Desmond Tutu. I caught crocodiles; avoided rocks and tear smoke canisters in various South African townships; stayed awake through interminable city council meetings and criminal and civil court cases - and learned to interpret balance sheets and understand economic jargon. I also married - and for 32 years and one week remained happily married to - my news editor, Poen de Villiers.
After the birth of our two daughters, I 'crossed over' into Public Relations where I stayed for many years. More recently, I turned to freelance wordsmithing to earn my daily crust.
The unexpected death of a childhood friend and colleague in 2011 spurred me to take stock of my life. A few months later, I started writing A Beautiful Family. My second novel, When Times Fails, the second book of what has become the Silverman Saga trilogy, was released in October 2015. Book 3 in the trilogy, Deceive and Defend, is scheduled for release in June 2018.
Read more at Marilyn Cohen de Villiers’s site.