Echoes from the Free State plains
Sometimes it’s a blessing in disguise when a publisher rejects a manuscript. The first five versions of my new novel, Smit Motors, fortunately never saw the light of day.
Fortunately? It was aimed at taking on the supposed small-town mentality. I sent my main character, Petra Smit, into the Free State to sort out the racists and homophobes. Moreover, just for the fun of it, she would make out with the mayor’s daughter. It was nonsense. It was arrogant. But, more importantly, it wasn’t a true reflection of my upbringing in the platteland.
My father was a bank manager. So every five years my mother had to pack,
