For the longest time, our home defined who I was. The moods of the Kalahari ... the river of my being rising and dwindling, yet always finely in tune with the undertow, the ebb and flow of the desert.' So writes Emma, daughter of Deirdre and Alf Johannsen. Captivated by the remoteness and beauty of the Kalahari Desert after a chance visit in 1884, Emma's father makes the decision to leave his home in Europe and return to settle in Africa. On his journey back, he meets the woman who will become his wife. Together they take on the challenge of making their home in the vast desert wilderness. During the first fourteen years of her life, Emma develops her father's passion for the Kalahari and the singular people who become part of their lives. The desert and its creatures fulfil...
Rosemund J Handler lives in Cape Town. She climbs the mountains of her city every weekend and delights in exploring the vast open spaces of Southern Africa. Us and Them is her fourth novel for Penguin. Madlands, her first novel, was published in 2006, followed by Katy’s Kid in 2007. Tsamma Season, published in 2009, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (Africa region) in 2010.
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