Time Pips

All Books are second hand
Nicholas Ashby
9781415200308

Matthew doesn't know why he sometimes has to hide inside the towel-bin. It has something to do with his mother, Nomvula, the theatre's Xhosa laundry maid, and her relationship with Gustaf Frazier, actor, radio impresario and owner of their back-yard home. A cosy set-up that is stretched to its limits by the inclusion of Sterlington Buthelezi - con-man, prophet, pioneer African aviator and trumpet-repairman extraordinaire. The Second World War sweeps Matthew away from the contradictions of his birth - to the Sphinx and back, and across the sea to the Indian Ocean island town of Diego Suarez. We follow him through wartime travails in North Africa, where he learns of Africa's rich heritage, and back to South Africa where he tries to free himself from the consequences of lust and loyalty - dreaming of his love in Diego Suarez and encountering again the flamboyant Sterlington as the latter plots his triumphant final flight across the ruined countryside.