Azira Khan

African Son Azira Khan

Set in apartheid South Africa in the 1960s and spanning three generations, African Son is the story of beautiful young English expat, Marion, who emigrates to South Africa where she falls in love with and marries Andries De Kock. The couple move to De Kock's fruit farm but he grows abusive, both to Marion and his black workers, and she falls in love with Sipho, the head gardener. A brief affair ensues and, when Marion falls pregnant, she has no way of knowing who the father is . . . Spirited away by the maternal black housemaid Josie, Marion gives birth to twins: one black and one white. The black child is passed off as an orphan and Marion returns to the farm. However, when Andries is murdered she decides to return home to England, taking with her Andries Junior and leaving his black twin brother, Joey, to be raised in South Africa by Josie. This epic tale of one woman's forbidden love, and the life-changing consequences of her decisions for her sons, is a powerful and moving tale of motherhood, kinship, passion and belonging, set amid the tempestuous backdrop of South Africa's racist society.