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Friday 9 September 2011

Hot Dogs Under The Dakota by Johannes Gouws

Love and Hate...

Review by The Mole

The story opens with the knowledge that Petie's grandfather has just been shot in the family home and the police are about to arrive. The story switches to a retrospective of Petie's life from the time his mother abandons him at his grandparents to the time of the murder.

The story explores everything in Petie's life that makes him love his grandfather, and he does really love the man - a man who is always hard and very often brutal. Petie is also violent, always fighting at school and being beaten for it and always resenting the way his mother has abandoned him. We are never told why his family hate his Grandfather so much but gradually, through the telling, we too grow to hate the man and start to realise that it is possible for a child to both love and hate the same thing.

Set against the background of emerging apartheid it is a most fascinating and well told story.

Although this story is written from Petie's perspective as a child it is written for adults and not children.

If you want a feel good story then this is not for you, but if you want a story that is well told and will involve you in it emotionally then this book should certainly be given a go.

Publisher  - Print On Demand and ebook from all the usual sources
Genre - Adult Fiction


Buy Hot dogs under The Dakota from Amazon

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