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A Part Hate A Part Love
Evita Bezuidenhout, still regarded as the most famous white woman in South Africa, was born Evangelie Poggenpoel of humble Boer origins in the dusty Orange Free State town of Bethlehem on 28 September 1935. Illegitimate, imaginative, pretty and ambitious, she dreamt of Hollywood fame and fortune, tasting stardom in such 50s Afrikaner film classics as 'Boggel en die Akkedis' (Hunchback and the Lizard), 'Meisie van my Drome' (Girl of my Dreams) and 'Duiwelsvallei' (Devil's Valley). She married into the political Bezuidenhout Dynasty and became the demure wife of NP Member of Parliament Dr J.J. De V. Bezuidenhout and the proud mother of De Kock, Izan and Billie-Jeanne.
Power became her addiction. She wielded it in the boardroom, the kitchen and round the dinner table, becoming confidante to the flawed gods on the Boer Olympus and so shaping the course of history with her close and often unbelievable relationships with the grim-faced leaders of the Dr H.F. Verwoerd, B.J. Vorster, P.W. Botha and F.W. de Klerk. Hand in hand with the glamorous Evita of Pretoria was the Tallyrand of Africa, Pik Botha, her ageing Romeo and constant friend, while watching her from afar as she watched him, Nelson R. Mandela, alive today thanks to her timely interventions.
Satirical, provocative, radical and humorous, A Part Hate A Part Love will have you rolling on the floor one minute and weeping the next.
Power became her addiction. She wielded it in the boardroom, the kitchen and round the dinner table, becoming confidante to the flawed gods on the Boer Olympus and so shaping the course of history with her close and often unbelievable relationships with the grim-faced leaders of the Dr H.F. Verwoerd, B.J. Vorster, P.W. Botha and F.W. de Klerk. Hand in hand with the glamorous Evita of Pretoria was the Tallyrand of Africa, Pik Botha, her ageing Romeo and constant friend, while watching her from afar as she watched him, Nelson R. Mandela, alive today thanks to her timely interventions.
Satirical, provocative, radical and humorous, A Part Hate A Part Love will have you rolling on the floor one minute and weeping the next.
383 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 28, 2011
In doses of 10-20 minutes Evita Bezuidenhout is wickedly funny, basically the South African Dame Edna Everage, except that Pieter Dirk Uys took far more risks than Barry Humphreys ever did. I admire the hell out of Uys as a person, and he's not a bad writer, but unfortunately Evita really starts to grate after a hundred pages, the jokes get lamer, and well - it's not a masterpiece put it that way.
October 30, 2020
2.5 stars
I believe that if you are very familiar with the politics and politicians in South Africa between the 1950s and 1990s, then you will probably thoroughly enjoy this satirical fable.
Unfortunately, I was born in the 80s, so although some of the politicians were still around them and I can remember my parents and their friends mimicking certain "funny" characteristics (like PW's infamous finger-pointing) at dinner parties, most of the jokes went right over my head.
I enjoyed the pre-Evita's-adulthood parts more, about her ancestors, parents, and early childhood: probably because my level of knowledge of South Africa at that time was at an adequate level thanks to history lessons.
All that said, I still found humorous anecdotes scattered throughout the book although I probably missed the bulk of the sarcasm. For this reason, the book also felt quite long to me.
I believe that if you are very familiar with the politics and politicians in South Africa between the 1950s and 1990s, then you will probably thoroughly enjoy this satirical fable.
Unfortunately, I was born in the 80s, so although some of the politicians were still around them and I can remember my parents and their friends mimicking certain "funny" characteristics (like PW's infamous finger-pointing) at dinner parties, most of the jokes went right over my head.
I enjoyed the pre-Evita's-adulthood parts more, about her ancestors, parents, and early childhood: probably because my level of knowledge of South Africa at that time was at an adequate level thanks to history lessons.
All that said, I still found humorous anecdotes scattered throughout the book although I probably missed the bulk of the sarcasm. For this reason, the book also felt quite long to me.
May 26, 2020
3 for 3.5 I somehow found Evita funnier as live person than book character.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews