Death is Part of the Process

by Hilda Bernstein

Paperback

Published August 21, 1986

About the author

Hilda Bernstein (May 15, 1915 – September 8, 2006) was an author, artist, and an activist against apartheid and for women's rights. She was born Hilda Schwarz in London and emigrated to South Africa at the age of 18 years and became active in politics. She married fellow activist Lionel "Rusty" Bernstein in March 1941, and together they played prominent roles in the struggle to end Apartheid in South Africa. After her husband was tried and acquitted in the Rivonia Trial in 1964, government harassment forced them to flee to Botswana, an ordeal described in her book The World that was Ours, which was republished by Persephone Books in 2009. They lived in Britain for some years where she further established herself internationally as a speaker, writer, and artist. She returned with her husband to South Africa in 1994 for the South African election in which fellow activist Nelson Mandela was elected President. She died at the age of 91 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Published works:
The World that was Ours (1967, reissued by Persephone Books in 2009)
The Terrorism of Torture
For Their Triumphs and For Their Tears: Women in Apartheid South Africa (Africa Fund, 1985)
Steve Biko (Victor Kamkin, 1978)
No. 46: Steve Biko (Victor Kamkin, 1978)
Death is Part of the Process (Sinclair Browne)
The Rift: The Exile Experience of South Africans
A World of One's Own (reprinted as Separation, Corvo Books)
The Trials of Nelson Mandela

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent book; clever way of writing, although it gets a bit tedious to follow at times due to a lack character depth and the constant change of perspective from one person to another. Nevertheless, I would recommend this work to anyone who has gotten somewhat bored of South African history textbooks and is looking for some action to reinvigorate their enthusiasm - when used for such purposes, it definitely broadens your understanding of apartheid and introduces some of the harsh realities of Separate Development which are often overlooked in highschool literature.

[Nagisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing. The author employs each perspective of characters for each chapter, but I don't think it's working well since characters are unsatisfactorily developed.