Handful of Earth

About the book

For Abraham de Bruyn and the young men of The Island, World War II offers more than a chance to prove their mettle. Compensation for signing up to fight is a dream come true: each soldier will receive a piece of land to call his own. Having been removed to The Island years before from land at the foot of the majestic Outeniqua Mountains in the southern Cape, where they had lived and farmed for generations, they believe that Jan Smuts’s war will finally put things right.

Leaving his young wife and family behind, Abraham travels to North Africa. With him is his brother, Stanley, and Kobus, a wayward Afrikaner who is fighting alongside the Allies against the wishes of his Nationalist father.

In Egypt, a fateful bullet sends Abraham home, but his battle is far from...