Frankie and Stankie

by Barbara Trapido

Dinah and her sister Lisa are growing up in 1950's South Africa, where racial laws are tightening. They are two little girls from a dissenting liberal family. Big sister Lisa is strong and sensible, while Dinah is weedy and arty. At school, the sadistic Mrs Vaughan-Jones is providing instruction in mental arithmetic and racial prejudice. And then there's the puzzle of lunch break. 'Would you rather have a native girl or a koelie to make your sandwiches?' a first-year classmate asks. But Dinah doesn't know the answer, because it's her dad who makes her sandwiches. As the apparatus of repression rolls on, Dinah finds her own way, escaping into rewarding friendships. Then there's the minefield of boys and university and finally, there's marriage and voluntary exile in London. As we follow Dinah's journey through childhood and adolescence, we enter into one of the darker passages of twentieth-century history. Balancing darkness and light with marvellous dexterity, this is Barbara Trapido at the top of her form - vibrant, profound and, as always, irresistible.

Genres: Fiction, South Africa, Historical Fiction, Africa, Literary Fiction, Coming Of Age, Novels

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Margitte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this memoir in novel form. I loved the author's wit and sense of place. I was amazed at the small details of their everyday life, growing up in South Africa as first generation immigrants during the Apartheid years. It was a tumultuous time for everyone, especially for the two young girls and their adjustment to a new country. It was a sad and funny tale. The author constantly left me smiling, although her memories brought so much sadness in reliving those times. Most of their later experiences as students, and being involved in the struggle movement, was informative.

In the afterword, the author stated: "The human species, Dinah sometimes thinks, is stark staring mad. People have no sooner got themselves born than they start to imagine the gods want them to flatten their heads, or perforate their genitals, or arrange themselves into hierarchies based on the colour of their skins. The gods require them to avoid eating hoofs, or to walk backwards in certain sacred presences, or to hang up cats in clay pots and light fires underneath them. The gods like them to slaughter birds and make incisions in their own skulls. The gods have put the banana on this earth so that the human species can apprehend that fruit as a miraculous revelation of the Holy Trinity. It has to do with their singular ability to think and dream in symbols. This is what makes the species so vicious. It’s also what makes them great poets."

I think it sums up her experiences very well. The reason why I don't rate it 5 stars, is because it was a slow burner. Too slow for a novel, at least.There were some congesture, comparing apples with papayas, to support an ideological stand, that demonstrated an feeling/ idea, rather than reality, but that's happening all the time, so it's totally okay.

Nevertheless, her story is beautiful and worth a read. I love the cover design. All her books have this unique, eye-catching covers and I plan to read a few more, for sure.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book flew by; Trapido's immediacy is so engaging and enticing that it takes hardly any time at all to be sucked in even to this clearly autobiographical novel. All of a sudden one is 120 pages in, and like a good TV show it's all you can think about when you're not reading it.

Is comparing a book to a TV show insulting? I don't mean cliffhangery Game of Thrones soap operatic nonsense. I mean interesting people's lives told well, where you can put it down any time but you know you're not finished yet.

I didn't know much about South African history, and her account of how the National Party came to power felt incredibly current: the smug certainty of the majority that this wouldn't happen, the utter horrified shock when it did, the denial by large swathes of the population that it could possibly last more than one political term. That's how South Africa's white population - admittedly already inured to racism - fell headlong into half a century of total antithesis to liberalism. It sounds familiar to us here in 2018.

The contrast between authorial voice - unequivocal in its criticism of white South African attitude, both before and during Apartheid - and the naïve ignorance of the life lived by her own junior iteration was so lightly balanced and so easily parsed that it's almost easy to dismiss this type of writing. It flows so smoothly that it gives the impression of being effortless, but the work here is beautiful: a memoir, a narrative, a critique, a statement, all while being as easy to read as a picture book. Vacuumed up, totally recommendable.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whilst this book was set in 1950's South Africa, it could so easily have described my own childhood in 1970's South Africa. So much resonated with me, such as the way history was taught in schools (regurgitate, never question), the inane school uniform rules, the social structures, the crazy politics, the contents of Die Huisgenoot, and those horribly painful Afrikaans lessons, liberal parents and night-time visits from the police. And the author's scathingly witty attacks on both the English and Afrikaans speaking whites provided cringeworthy accurate stereotypes (the teachers in their white safari suits!) that took me right back. Whilst this book represents only one small part of South Africa's story, it reflects a lot of my own experiences. When I look back now, I can't believe how much has changed in South Africa, but this book also made me think about how stagnant things were from the 1940's to the 1970's (outside the political arena, which was deteriorating fast). An interesting read!

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

How have I not read this author before? Quirky captivating characters with enough historical context (50s South Africa) to inform but not bog you down. I preferred the earlier years describing schooldays and the various Best Friends. So clearly written it must surely be part autobiographical? I wish there was another volume about the next chapter of Dinah's life in England.

I'm off to rummage through boxes to find some of Trapido's other novels I'm sure I remember having somewhere! If not, it's off to Amazon I go!

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

this story is set in the 1950s, when apartheid was rife in south africa. i am south african, and went to school in the eighties.

i am ashamed when i read books like this. people were treated atrociously. it is something we can never forget and we have no right to tell anybody to get over it.

this is a very good book, well worth reading.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was exctly the right book for me! It's about Dinah, a girl growing up in South Africa in the 50s. A perfect mixture of Dinah's personal history and the history of South Africa of the time (with apartheid and everything).

As for the titel Frankie & Stankie: It really is pretty random. It refers to an Italien song that Dinah missunderstood in her childhood. Can it get more random? Or maybe there is a point. Dinah thought that the song was about two clowns named Frankie and Stankie. Life is funny, life is random. That might be something. At least it suits the atmosphere of the book.

I really liked this book! And I dare say I learned something too. If u wanna read about South Africa, choose this book, and not People Like Ourselves by Pamela Jooste.

[Angel · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a boring novel. Although meticulously researched the book lacked any depth and just seemed to be a 'story' of random people doing not very much. A real disappointment. And a plot would have been appreciated.

[Hazel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I grew up in Apartheid South Africa although I was a lot younger than the time of this book - so could relate to so much. Reading the history of those years makes one remember how awful it all was and Barbara Trapido explains it so well.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book (the details of where and when escape me) because I had read and enjoyed Barbara Trapido's Brother of the More Famous Jack a few years ago. And I liked this book, but it feels unfinished somehow, as though it was meant to be a full-on story of two sisters (Lisa and Dinah = Frankie and Stankie, a reference that occurs towards the beginning and never again), but Trapido decided a few chapters in that Dinah was more interesting. Not to mention that nothing really HAPPENS. It feels like 250 pages of set-up for a major plot point that never comes.

On the other hand, if Trapido's goal was to draw back the curtain on growing up in Apartheid-era South Africa, the book is extremely successful. Her writing is beautiful and evocative, and the descriptions are so specific I can just picture Dinah and Lisa's house, their school experiences, Dinah and Maud making their own clothes, the lives of their grandparents, aunts and uncles. I felt like the political information--that is, what was going on politically at each stage of the girls' lives--was almost too separated from the rest of the story, but again, that might be the point. I think my most important takeaway from this book is how white people's lives remained almost unchanged while black South Africans and Indians had their rights systematically taken away. Trapido frequently points out that "normal life went on," even as there were riots and uprisings and people being denounced as spies.

[Lyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

If, by chance, you happened to go to school in South Africa during the fifties, sixties or seventies, then you should definitely read this book. Not only is Barbara Trapido a fantastic author (and check out all her other books too, most of which are set in England) but you will laugh aloud with recognition at the South African schooling system and the general white lifestyle of those days. (Hopefully it is all different now).
Set in Durban, this is a wonderfully insightful book into the highs and lows of life for pre and post WW2 emigrants to South Africa as they come to terms with the often crazy-making life in their new country. Told skillfully from both a child and teen perspective, and interwoven with back stories of immigrant parents, grandparents, neighbours and friends, this is a book well worth reading.

[Jayne Bauling · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a lovely writer Barbara Trapido is, always pitch-perfect. She has that gift of engaging the reader without anything huge or dramatic happening in the lives of her eminently credible characters.

Dinah de Bondt grows up in Durban during the decades when apartheid was at its crudest and most fighteningly repressive. The racism and vague liberal guilt and ineffectuality of the era are accurately rendered, as we follow Dinah through school and university and a series of best girlfriends before men enter her life.

Beautifully written.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting characters set in South Africa during the 1960s. Not being very familiar with the history, besides what is read fro newsprint and TV, I am glad I did read it. Barbara's experiences are well told through her main character Didi. I can't imagine growing up in such a racist atmosphere. Where colour differences never existed, were forced onto those people who made the land and belonged there yet had to live like animals. Religion and politics are always at the source of negative impact and this book describes it well.

[Renee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I abandoned this book at about a third through it - just over 100 pages. I found the style of writing really difficult to read - I got quite bored. It's really a history of politics in South Africa during a particular period. I suspect it may be a bit autobiographical and therefore cathartic for the author, but I really struggled to get through those 100 pages and decided there are too many other books to read.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved The Traveling Hornplayer by the same author so decided to try this novel despite the iffy title. I struggled to care about the characters, in part because there is no real dialogue- it's all descriptions of interactions. Is that 3rd-person limited narration? Anyway, stuck with it and it has some great moments so not sorry I did.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've tried to read this book twice now. I just can't get into it. I hate the writing style.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A high 3 star rating. Story of sisters living in South Africa and learning about Apartheid. I wish there was more information regarding Apartheid.

[Kate Macfadyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this. It has strong elements of autobiography but works well as a novel, which I assume allowed the author to include incidents that did not happen to her directly but had an important part to play in conjuring up the atmosphere of South Africa in the age of apartheid. I felt it did a great job of balancing the bigger picture of political change and increasing extremism with the everyday humour of childhood misunderstandings and playground politics.

The fact that every scene shown to us through the main character Dinah's eyes is narrated in the present tense appears to have annoyed some other reviewers, but it worked well for me for two reasons. One, it was very clear from the change of tense when we were going into some back story, whether about the country's history or the individual families who moved there from various parts of the world. (I had not realised quite how many European nationalities settled in South Africa.) Two, we effectively grow up with Dinah from her earliest experiences to greater understanding, of everyday things as well as the political situation. For example, there is something unusual about her sister but this is not mentioned for quite a long time, because Dinah herself would probably only have become fully aware of it when she was exposed to the opinions of people outside the family. And an early school friend is really quite an unpleasant child, but Dinah's understanding of that is gradual.

The parents are unusual in being openly "not very racist" - attracting disapproval from neighbours for allowing black people to take a short cut across their land, and allowing a black servant to have visitors. But they are not really politically engaged. Only later do the dangers of opposing this regime really affect someone close to the adult Dinah - and they reflect that a white person can always leave, a comment that in itself brings home the stark unfairness of the situation.

My only criticism is the ending - it left me wanting more. A sequel could be a very interesting book in its own right, but a few more chapters would have been very satisfying.

[Siobhan Markwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

From other reviews, I can see that this book really appeals to South Africans who remember the post war years from their childhoods and I can see why. Trapido can phrase a gorgeous sentence and a great paragraph but I think her treatment of semi-autobiographical content made her uncomfortable. It's a pastiche of memories written in present tense that creates a fly-by impression of a childhood and youth against the background of British and Afrikaans racism and the disaster of apartheid. The ironic, mocking tone would work in earlier critiques of colonialism, when half the audience are still stubbornly clinging to their view of Empire and white rule as having some redeeming features. In 2024, having digested a lot of that type of writing, I'm looking perhaps for a more narrative driven view of how this disaster befell a huge area of southern Africa. Some of the mosaic like memories didn't ring true but I'm guessing these are the ones more likely to have actually happened on the grounds of you couldn't make it up. Nice writing, nice sentiment but I found myself reading four or five other books in the spaces where I felt the boredom creep in.

[Vansa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barbara Trapido is one of my favourite writers, and this book is probably her best. A warm, funny, moving but also sharply insightful account of growing up white in apartheid South Africa, this lightly fictionalised memoir combines history with lived experience beautifully. Trapido never loses sight of the position of privilege she writes from. I loved Trevor Noah's memoir 'Born a crime', and this is an excellent companion piece- I would urge people to read both. As always, Trapido writes beautifully about falling in love, and how transcendent it can be but also how mundane, and how that can be perfect. Trapido's husband, and her, were involved with the anti-apartheid movement and she recalls hosting activists before the Rivonia trial. SO the book ends on a rather sad note, because they have to leave before they're jailed. Trapido writes about leaving the only home she's known, but does not romanticise it at all ( the way many white writers do, in apartheid states)-she's too tough minded for that, and recognises the cruelty and oppression the country is built on.

[Kate Callen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a well-written story of the childhood and youth of a white South African girl/young woman in the 1950s and 60s. It very often feels uncomfortable, as I believe it's meant to, being written in the third person but giving the perspective of Dinah, the main character, as she grows in understanding of the world around her, including much, although not all, of the injustice around her. Mostly she's a kid, negotiating her place as the child of casually liberal immigrants but going through a school system that's out to teach her to rank people as it does, while she's mostly concerned with her friends and her clothes and her education (in that order).

I need to read more of the black South African experience of apartheid. Clearly it was repressive for everyone, but while this story is part of the tale, it shouldn't be the primary perspective.

[John Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

First thing to say - I don’t like the title. Second - liked everything else. This is a novel without a plot; Dinah is a little girl when the book opens and a young adult when it ends. In between she grows up. That’s it really.
Yet there is a lot to like here. Trapido writes simply yet elegantly. What makes this more than a run of the mill coming of age story is its context. Dinah is growing up in post-war South Africa where the apartheid system strangles not just the lives of the non-whites but shrinks the lives of the privileged whites. Dinah and her liberal minded family find the society they live in is increasingly at odds with the way they feel life should be and eventually Dinah and her husband feel compelled to leave and emigrate to London, much as Trapido herself did which is why this book feels so authentic.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story of growing up , white and middle-class, in 1950s South Africa. Supposedly a kind of memoir of BT's childhood/young adulthood. Set against significant social changes, growth of Afrikaans, stronger apartheid etc, the young girls' concerns seem ordinary and frequently reflect the lives of their contemporaries in UK. However, the book fails to deliver; though there are many amusing anecdotes and some potentially good characters, we never really get beyond this. It becomes a fractured series of vignettes that never really sharpen into a clear picture. The book feels like a reminiscence with little attempt to steer the narrative or provide an over-arching scheme beyond "growing up" (and she doesn't always stick to that).

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very novel way to tell the story of South Africa's turbulent racial history and apartheid.
This was a joy to read. I loved the characters and the way famous, to South Africans, subservient activists were brought into the story, though I had to look them up to get the context. It sounds an ideal childhood in that country, though you can feel the undercurrent of malevolence towards non-whites even if these people are rarely mentioned. I must admit I didn’t know about all the immigrants arriving from Europe in the 1920s, 1930s and post-war, so much so that it sounded like Shanghai in the 1930s with its White Russians etc.
Though set in South Africa in the 40s and onwards, some things are the same as my childhood in the 60s in England E,g the Bayko building set, some of the foods and clothes, the autograph books etc.
I just wish she’d write another book.

[Nadia Bruyere · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a post-apartheid south african, I suggest this to EVERYONE as a must-read. It was extremely difficult to put down at times, and then there were pages that I struggled to get through as the harsh reality of what was going down during the apartheid regime hit me really hard in the face. I think Barbara wrote a very thought-provoking, honest piece of work that spoke about the realities of what was through her characters and considering the current situation of addressing systemic racism in the world, this book can definitely act as a catalyst to try and challenge non-POC's thinking as they go through the story and will hopefully lead to a more long-term change in behaviour and logic.

[Sue]

DNF. The first three chapters read like an extremely detailed childhood memoir but the characters are fictional. I found that distracting and might have preferred a straightforward autobiography. I didn’t gather enough momentum to want to keep reading despite the potentially very interesting context of South Africa in the 50s.
A disappointment after being enthralled by the compelling writing and quirky plot / characters of Brother Of the More Famous Jack. I will still try The Travelling Hornplayer at some point.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A full five stars for this excellent, touching memoir (not really a memoir, but basically one). Trapido recreates the world of her childhood with deftness, humor, and poignancy. This is also an excellent book for those who are interested in learning more about South Africa's ugly descent into apartheid (descent isn't quite the right word -- half-step down from previously shitty policies?). I cannot wait to delve further into her bibliography.

[Laura Alderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started off really enjoying this largely autobiographical book about 2 white girls growing up in apartheid South Africa. Their take on the crazy world they live in, seen through children's and then teenagers eyes. However it got very meandering, with lots of extra characters brought in, past and present and I found my mind wandering. However there were some interesting observations, both personal and political on the increasingly brutal world that I found it a mainly engrossing read.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating and detailed account of a white girl growing up in apartheid South Africa. I had very little appreciation of the differences between the whites and much of the history. Lots of characters, some of which I lost track of, and maybe assumptions about how much background the reader might already have (or was that just me?) but a good read nevertheless and really well written.

[Ben Banyard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently found a copy of this book buried on the shelves in my spare room - it had been given to me by my mum, who was a huge fan of Barbara Trapido, shortly before she died in 2012. I'm so glad that I found it, and immediately fell in love with Trapido's breezy, humorous prose. Having just finished it, I now desperately want to read everything she's written. Thanks, Mum!

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started off slowly for me. The writing jumps around somewhat but towards the end I couldn't stop reading. Really wanted to know how the main character's life would turn out.

There is something of a parallel between Dinah's life and my in-laws who left SA in the 60's and the reason why I have the family I do.