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Hap
Lucy, a 16-year-old girl from New York, is recovering from a recent traumatic experience. She joins her father at the fictional Barclay Bay, on South Africa's west coast, where she slowly makes sense of her ordeal. But Lucy cannot help but also be affected by the characters around her, including that of Hap, an early ancestor who lived in the area, and whose experiences Lucy, in a state of heightened emotion and perception, seems to sense.
149 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2017
12 people want to read
About the author
Lesley Beake
56 books13 followersLesley Beake has been involved with writing and editing children’s stories for twenty years now and has published nearly seventy books. All her stories are set in Africa and are rich in African imagery and landscape. They vary from picture books for the very young, to novels for teenagers, with a good spread of stories for all ages in between.
Much of her work involves writing for readers who are reading in English as their second, third, or even fourth language. The challenge of corresponding a reading level with an interest level is helped by her background in primary school teaching and in teaching English as a Foreign Language in the Middle East for the British Council.
Lesley also has a wide portfolio of travel writing, radio broadcasting and website work. She was editor of two major South African travel publications and of the Air Malawi in-flight magazine and currently manages and edits a website for San communities at www.kalaharipeoples.net.
Her books have been translated into numerous languages, worldwide and in Africa, and she has received many awards for her books. But the greatest satisfaction comes with meeting the young people who actually read her books – and in typing the last word of the manuscript in hand!
Much of her work involves writing for readers who are reading in English as their second, third, or even fourth language. The challenge of corresponding a reading level with an interest level is helped by her background in primary school teaching and in teaching English as a Foreign Language in the Middle East for the British Council.
Lesley also has a wide portfolio of travel writing, radio broadcasting and website work. She was editor of two major South African travel publications and of the Air Malawi in-flight magazine and currently manages and edits a website for San communities at www.kalaharipeoples.net.
Her books have been translated into numerous languages, worldwide and in Africa, and she has received many awards for her books. But the greatest satisfaction comes with meeting the young people who actually read her books – and in typing the last word of the manuscript in hand!
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 26, 2018
I'm going to start by saying that Hap by Lesley Beake absolutely deserves gold for the 2017 Sanlam Youth literature Prize. In this tale, we discover the world according to Lucy, 16, who's been packed off by her mum in NYC to go spend a few weeks with her father, Peter, in South Africa.
Peter is busy on a dig on the West Coast, somewhere near Lambert's Bay (that's about all I can find out about the location of Barclay Bay). It's quite a change from the air-conditioned apartment in the city, but Lucy needs her space. She's recently had something awful happen to her, and needs time and space to remember and deal with the event.
The entire novel seems to exist in a dream-like state – and there's not much that happens beyond Lucy reconciling with her (relatively) absent father, working through her own dark teatime (being rejected by your mother is a terrible thing) and then the events that happen on the dig. We have a large-ish cast of wonderfully eccentric secondary characters who add interest and some conflict to the narrative. There's a storm. The descriptions of the environment are absolutely gorgeous. And then there are the sort-of visions that Lucy has about the enigmatic Hap, her counterpart who lived here many thousands of years ago. I loved the fact that it's left open-ended as to whether Lucy merely had an active imagination or whether she in fact did tap into a distant past.
This is a story about life, and about the connections made between people, and how even though thousands of years separate us from our ancestors, we still have the same needs – to be loved and to endure. And it's also about connecting to that sense of belonging and being part of the land that has formed our bones.
I enjoyed seeing Lucy gradually unfold – and this very much is a novel about coming to terms with hurt and moving beyond it – a story containing subject matter that is often difficult to write about sensitively. (A hint: Beake nails this, BTW. Much better than many authors I've seen over the past while.)
Hap will stay with me for a long, long time. It might be because I already have a massive interest in archaeology – so having a novel immersed in the day-to-day (and rather unglamorous) doings of archaeologists most certainly worked for me. Lucy herself may be at times be self-absorbed (but it's understandable why), but her perceptions of the world around her and the people with whom she interacts make for a fully immersive story. Beake's writing is lyrical and evocative, and I cannot recommend this book enough – whether you are a teen or a teen-at-heart.
Peter is busy on a dig on the West Coast, somewhere near Lambert's Bay (that's about all I can find out about the location of Barclay Bay). It's quite a change from the air-conditioned apartment in the city, but Lucy needs her space. She's recently had something awful happen to her, and needs time and space to remember and deal with the event.
The entire novel seems to exist in a dream-like state – and there's not much that happens beyond Lucy reconciling with her (relatively) absent father, working through her own dark teatime (being rejected by your mother is a terrible thing) and then the events that happen on the dig. We have a large-ish cast of wonderfully eccentric secondary characters who add interest and some conflict to the narrative. There's a storm. The descriptions of the environment are absolutely gorgeous. And then there are the sort-of visions that Lucy has about the enigmatic Hap, her counterpart who lived here many thousands of years ago. I loved the fact that it's left open-ended as to whether Lucy merely had an active imagination or whether she in fact did tap into a distant past.
This is a story about life, and about the connections made between people, and how even though thousands of years separate us from our ancestors, we still have the same needs – to be loved and to endure. And it's also about connecting to that sense of belonging and being part of the land that has formed our bones.
I enjoyed seeing Lucy gradually unfold – and this very much is a novel about coming to terms with hurt and moving beyond it – a story containing subject matter that is often difficult to write about sensitively. (A hint: Beake nails this, BTW. Much better than many authors I've seen over the past while.)
Hap will stay with me for a long, long time. It might be because I already have a massive interest in archaeology – so having a novel immersed in the day-to-day (and rather unglamorous) doings of archaeologists most certainly worked for me. Lucy herself may be at times be self-absorbed (but it's understandable why), but her perceptions of the world around her and the people with whom she interacts make for a fully immersive story. Beake's writing is lyrical and evocative, and I cannot recommend this book enough – whether you are a teen or a teen-at-heart.
March 9, 2018
Award-winning South African YA novel. A traumatised sixteen-year-old girl flies from New York to South Africa, to join her archaeologist father on the west coast. Reflective and subtle, the book draws you in from the start, and there’s a skilful weaving of the story’s different strands. Lucy’s personal pain and uncertainty, an amazing archaeological discovery, and the interaction between the various characters combine to make an absorbing story.
Beautiful writing, and a profound message about who we are, and what love is.
Beautiful writing, and a profound message about who we are, and what love is.
December 31, 2019
This book was really disappointing. The title and the opening prologue sets the scene for a closer relationship between Hap and Lucy but this is developed on a very superficial level. The traumatic event that resulted in Lucy being sent to stay with her father in the Cape is hinted at, and then only thinly revealed towards the end of the book. Lucy's feelings and emotions largely elude the reader. Then the ending is unsatisfactory - things fall into place a little too easily. But I am not a young adult and it would be interesting to know how younger people, teenagers, feel about Lucy's story.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews