Short description
Illegitimate, Hud grows up with his mother and her Christian family in the Cape Flats. For 28 years he is overlooked by his Muslim father who is no more than a shadowy figure inhabiting the outskirts of his world; a man his mother has always called Mr Joh
Long description
Illegitimate, Hud grows up with his mother and her Christian family in the Cape Flats. For 28 years he is overlooked by his Muslim father who is no more than a shadowy figure inhabiting the outskirts of his world; a man his mother has always called Mr Johnson. Then, out of the blue, Hud's father informs him that he is to inherit his rare orchid collection, and asks him to move in with him. His father's health suddenly deteriorates, and this sets in motion a chain of events. Hud's half-brother and sister discover his existence for the first time. When Sawdah returns from Australia, where she has taken refuge from an unhappy experience ten years ago, she is immediately drawn to him. But Mo, her artist brother, resents the intruder. A wonderful host of characters populates the novel - Hud's Granny Marge and mother Avril, his Uncle James and Aunt Lorraine and their two children with whom Hüd shared a bed for the first seven years of his life. And there is his father's family - his warm and wise brother Boeta Braim and his ex-wife Abeeda - the main character in Confessions of a Gambler - who appears here in a minor yet key role, as vivid and attractive as ever.