Philida [Hardcover]

This novel is set during the time at the brink of freedom for the slaves whose lives are vividly and viscerally brought to life by Andre Brink. There is a scene late in the book where Floris, the slave, is about to be flogged and is being tied to the flogging bench, which is dark with the stains of blood from the slaves who have been flogged before him. Floris' "entire back and lean buttocks bear the dark criss-cross marks of old floggings." His master orders Labyn, another slave, to "tie it properly". However, Labyn refuses. "I shall have to say no to the Meester. That is not my work." Labyn draws his strength from his faith and the knowledge that in the coming months slaves will be freed. The Meester marches back inside his house, angry, and leaves Floris on the bench. He waits all night. By morning the gorans from Floris who has lain all night on the flogging bench have become "deeper and darker." In the morning the master orders him to be untied and says to his wife, "It's important for a slave to be reminded regularly of who is the Baas."
The book tells the story of Philida, a slave who was related to the author in real life. She worked as a knitting girl on a farm and had four children by her master's son, Francois. Philida was promised her freedom by Francois and complained to the Slave Protector in 1832 about his failure to keep his promise of giving her her freedom. She knows she is taking a huge risk, because: "slaves that went to complain with the whole law in their hands, and then afterwards, when they get back to their Baas, they get beaten to death or they get hanged upside down or they get starved to death." This action by Philida resulted in Francois' father Cornelius selling her. Around these historical facts Andre Brink has built a powerful story which looks at the relationship between Philida and Francois, and tries to find a reason for the fact that one of her four children is not mentioned as living in the Slave Rolls.
It is a challenging look at relationships, because the reader is asked to believe that Francois has a fondness for Philida, and that she submits willingly to have his children. Cornelius has a much more stereotypical relationship with his slaves. It is really quite hard to believe that Philida has any feelings for Francois, even though Brink tries, I think, to make that seem plausible.
Philida rescues a small cat, Kleinkat, from drowning, and this little cat is a motif for hope and survival.
Philida herself sees shoes as the ultimate symbol of freedom. "The man or the woman with shoes on their feet, they cannot be slaves, they are free, shoes mean they are not chickens or donkeys or pigs or dogs, they are people."
This is a really powerful story, all the more so because it is firmly rooted in truth. It offers a different perspective on the relationships between slaves and masters in a sometimes uncomfortable way.

This great novel, published in 2012, is set in 'South Africa' during the early 1830s.

Philida, a slave in the Brink household, makes a complaint about her master at the Office of the Slave Protector, an office set up relatively recently, soon after the British replaced the Dutch as rulers of the Cape Colony. Her complaint sets off a chain of events during which the reader is introduced to the harsh realities of slavery in the colony. The reader will also learn quickly that nothing is as simple as black and white. Many of the slaves have some white (i.e. European) blood, and many of their masters and mistresses have some African or Asian blood coursing through their veins.

Some years ago, someone told me that when the ancestries of the leaders of the Apartheid governments were examined, almost all of them were found to have had at least one non-white (African or Asian)ancestor.

Philida knows full well that there is a big change in the offing. Soon, slavery is to be abolished in the Cape Colony. This is also abundantly obvious to her masters. Still, life goes on much as before, but what will become of the slaves and their 'baasses' after slavery comes to an end?

Philida and her children are sold to a new owner far from the Brink's farm. She meets another slave who introduces her to Islam, the religion, which, unlike the Christianity to which she has become accustomed, respects everyone as being equal. This and the ever nearing day of liberation emboldens her; she begins to do what she wants - not what she is told to do.

The author plunges us straight into the world of the Cape of the 1830s, and little imagination is required to believe that we are looking through a window into a vivid past. Most of the story is transmitted to the reader in the characters' own words most successfully.

As I read the book, I wondered occasionally whether the author was drawing parallels between two momentous occasions: the ending of slavery in the Cape in 1834 and the downfall of Apartheid almost 160 years later. Near the end of the book Philida says: " If you ask me, it will be harder for the white people than for us. We can still manage, one way or the other. But what will become of them? We are like the foundation of their house. Their lives and everything is built on us. This whole land is built on our sweat and blood."

Review by author of "ROGUE OF ROUXVILLE"

Philida is an African slave girl, working for the Brink family in the Eastern Cape in the early 19th century. She narrates some chapters; others are narrated by the plantation owner Cornelis or his son Frans. Later on, more narrators are also brought in. It seems from the end-notes that it is loosely based on Andre Brink's own ancestors.

The basic premise is that Frans has had a relationship with Philida and promised her freedom; he appears to have reneged on the promise and so Philida has gone off to Cape Town to lodge an official complaint. You know it is unlikely to end well.

There are many novels centring around exploitation of slaves. Amongst the best in recent years are The Polished Hoe and The Long Song. Philida is different because it doesn't put forward a straight narrative of oppression and hatred. Instead, we see the perspectives of the landowners, struggling to run farms on tight budgets as the market price of grapes falls. We see a world where slaves can be treated with compassion and do have some rights. We see that in some cases, bonded labourers could be given freedom and could even become accepted into family homes.

Yet for all this apparent rigour and potential for kindness, there is still the fundamental obstacle that the plantation owners were in charge and the slaves were not. Any judicial process would be tilted to work in favour of the landowners and any relationship between slave and farmer could never be one of equals. This makes the abuses (and there are real abuses in Philida) all the harder to stomach.

Half way through the novel, it takes a different turn as Philida is sold on to new owners away from the Cape. This allows for a greater perspective, moving beyond the immediate Brink family and into wider politics and an emergent Islamic spirituality. It allows us to reappraise the Brinks in a broader context and poor Frans does not come out well. It is well done and the strength of the characterisation allows difficult messages to be communicated with conviction.

The novel appears to be written in the spirit of a new South Africa - the Rainbow Nation - where the past happened and is not ignored, but where all have agreed to move on. There is no condemnation, just an acceptance that that's what people did in those days. It is a powerful account of how bonded labour was accepted as normal; how survival (for both slave and owner) depended on not rocking the boat and not trying to become what you were not pre-destined to be.

There is also a lovely little cat called Kleinkat who brings warmth and tenderness whenever it is most needed. Kleinkat represents hope.

Philida is a strong novel that will pose difficult questions. I recommend it highly.