The publication of LETTERS FROM WANKIE: a place in colonial Africa 
(a place once named  RHODESIA) has brought together Rhodesians from around the world.

E-mails are continually coming from the US, UK, Canada, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

David Bloom, Editoral Committee Chairman, www.telfed,org.il, Israel

                                                                                                               

BOOK REVIEW:  After reading Patricia Friedberg's memoir Letters from Wankie: a place in colonial Africa, Rainbow Books, Inc., USA. 2013. I could not help but smile reflecting on my own childhood in Rhodesia of the 1950s. Although the author and I lived in the same country – in truth, we lived worlds apart. Her accounts of her primitive lifestyle were far-removed from the "townies" of Salisbury (my family), and Bulawayo with their manicured gardens and multitude of servants.

Through her letters to her parents in England, the author weaves a fascinating and colourful story as a young Jewish wife in the dusty "one-horse" town of Wankie, the site of a large Anglo American coal mining operation where her husband accepted a position as company doctor. Friedberg had met her South African husband-to-be while he was studying medicine in the UK who persuaded her to try their first years of marriage in Africa.

Soon after arriving at the sizzling hot coalmining town, they were given their first lodgings - a thatch-roofed ‘rondavel’ with no lock on the front door and where she ‘enjoyed’ her first encounters with lizards, spiders, flies, mosquitoes, snakes and other endearing African wildlife. The advice she received on her first day was instructive: “Shake out your shoes before you put them on. Tarantulas and scorpions love shoes.”

Worlds Apart

Most illuminating was the author’s detailed recollections of her work for the Native Commissioner - the “white” government's arm in charge of birth-to-death issues in black African society. Through her experiences as the Clerk of the Court in Wankie, she was exposed to the local Ndebele people and describes with much humour and enthralling insight into their culture.

She describes cases involving lobola (bride price) to murder and white managers mercilessly beating their black employees. While most white Rhodesians would rarely encounter blacks beyond ‘a master-servant relationship’ and thus had little knowledge or understanding of their culture, Friedberg and her colleagues - mostly UK educated - showed a surprising level of empathy and a desire to ensure justice prevailed.

 “Different” and non-conformist, many of the letters from Wankie evince an uncommon perception for that time of the issues and schisms of a racially divided society. A riveting read, ‘Letters from Wankie’ provides a 1950s snapshot of ‘cultural encounters’ in a remote district of rural Rhodesia.

RECENT REVIEWS

An enthralling read, which takes one to places we did not know existed.  The author's courage and inimitable sense of humour shines through.  The descriptions of all whom the author meets on this incredible journey become real! Another of author Patricia Friedberg books  "everyone should read".   E. K, Bournemouth, England

An extraordinary story of a young British woman experiences as Clerk of the Court in a remote mining town.
Letters From Wankie is a valuable insight into pre-independence east Africa and one woman's positive influence.  R.B. Bradenton, Fl

 Witty and Wonderful!! LETTERS FROM WANKIE is a captivating, entertaining memoir of one woman's two-year adventure into a foreign world.  It is sure to capture your heart; don't miss it. A B, Patchoque, NY

Five Stars for LETTERS FROM WANKIE ... a terrific read.  I highly recommend this extremely well-written snapshot of life and culture in the remote district of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the early 1950's.  A. Bloom, Tel Aviv, Israel

BRILLIANT PORTRAYAL of an Extraordinary Experience... Must Read. NYC, New York

Not only did I learn much about colonial Africa, but it was a delightful chronicle of one's courageous journey. I could not put it down!  Thank you, Patricia for another winner!!  M.J.W, Bradenton, Florida

My compliments to the author, Patricia Friedberg for capturing the true essence of WANKIE, where I lived as a youngster, a little town on the vast continent of Africa.   J.A., Australia

For news about Patricia Friedberg's novel, 21 ALDGATE, be sure to visit our link:

www.21aldgate.com

RHODESIANS AROUND THE WORLD

Since, LETTERS FROM WANKIE's publication, Rhodesians have made contact with author, Patricia Friedberg and are sharing memories of a country, then known as the "Bread Basket" of Africa, now
Zimbabwe where little grows and many are on the edge of hunger.

The photo is of a gathering of Rhodesians who met recently at Manasota Beach in Florida. 

E mails pour in daily from Australia, Israel, UK, Cayman Isles, South Africa, Canada, Greece, Zimbabwe and the US where so many of us now reside.

Friedberg comments:  "We cannot return to what was but we can remember..and try to help those we left behind."

LETTERS FROM WANKIE: a place in Colonial Africa

BRITISH BORN AUTHOR PATRICIA FRIEDBERG

 

 LATEST RELEASE:
LETTERS FROM WANKIE ...follows on from 21 ALDGATE   www.21aldgate.com

  
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