Out of Mind Quotes

“But what really caught her attention was the small article on page 3 about the first native professional nurse in South Africa: Cecilia Makiwane. Vera hadn’t heard of her before but in her heart she saluted this fellow nurse who came from a poor mission family and against all odds had passed the Cape Colonial Medical Council examination in December 1907 and was now actively encouraging other young native women to follow in her footsteps.”
― Barbara Townsend, Out of Mind: A Story of Robben Island

“Forgetful in each other’s arms of the desolate wind that sighed around the corners of the house and the way the darkness in the small hours seemed to rise up from the earth like some dreadful blanket that could smother you.”
― Barbara Townsend, Out of Mind: A Story of Robben Island

“Notes on the Leper Colony and Insane Asylums on Robben Island In the winter, wild North westerly gales sweep in across the Island, battering the shore and bringing with them a dense sea mist that shrouds everything in its path. Despite the light and the foghorn many ships have foundered on those dark rocks. Perhaps this gives rise to the story that it is not only the crying of the seabirds that can be heard on dark winter nights. There are other stories about lost souls…”
― Barbara Townsend, Out of Mind: A Story of Robben Island