They Got to You Too, Futhi Ntshingila
They Got to You Too, Futhi Ntshingila
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They Got to You Too

Author: Futhi Ntshingila

Narrator: Dawid Minnaar, Lerato Mvelase, Rika Sennett, Robert Hobbs, Chris Djuma

Unabridged: 5 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 12/19/2023


Synopsis

Hans van Rooyen is a former police general raised by two women who survived the 1899 South African War. He finds himself being cared for in an old age home by the daughter of liberation struggle activists. At 80, he carries with him the memories of crimes he committed as an officer under the apartheid government.

Having eluded the public confessions at the TRC for his time in the Border Wars, he retained his position in the democratic South Africa, serving as an institutional memory for a new generation of police recruits.

Zoe Zondi is tasked to care for the old man. Her gentle and compassionate nature prompts Hans to review his decision to go to the grave with all his secrets. Zoe has her own life story to tell and, as their unlikely bond deepens, strengthened by the isolation that COVID-19 lockdown brings, they provide a safe space for each other to say the things that are often left unsaid.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Lorraine on September 07, 2021

THEY GOT TO YOU TOO. Told in the first-person by two very different people, unrelated by blood, but bound by their histories, both the personal and national. Zoe, a young black nurse in frail care, and Hans, an eighty-year old white Afrikaner, ex-military, carrying the weight of apartheid atrocities......more

Goodreads review by Lexi on April 23, 2024

7/10 I think reading about South African history is enlightening. My only education on apartheid and what happened has been through museums and traveling through SA as we were never taught about it in school. Reading it feels so much more personal and like a deeper account of some of the horrors peo......more

Goodreads review by Prince on September 13, 2023

Rich with history and a vast array of characters, and overall imbued with compassion and kindness. Written in a concise, minimalist prose.......more

Goodreads review by Monique Verduyn on September 28, 2021

When retired police general Hans van Rooyen finds himself in an old-age home, frail, anxious and alone, the last thing he expects is to be cared for by the daughter of former freedom fighters. They Got to You Too, SA writer Futhi Ntshingila’s third novel, is a multilayered tale about the power of com......more

Goodreads review by Hannah on February 27, 2025

Essa leitura foi uma surpresa. Amei demais! É necessária e sensível. They got to you too é um livro muito bem escrito e que apresenta profundamente dois pontos da história do apartheid na África do Sul: um senhor branco que era do exército e que cometeu muitos crimes contra negros enquanto trabalhava......more