Wieg

This is a biography in context, reading like a novel. The year is 1700, the place is Amsterdam, the bride is 21 years old and hurriedly married to a widower who is old enough to be her father. Who is this French woman heading for a pioneer life at a wild outpost in Africa? Marie Buisset is a refugee, an orphan from Sedan, France, born during the fiercest Huguenot persecution. She becomes the ancestral mother of the families Du Plessis and Snith in South Africa. As midwife – later on the formal payroll of the VOC – Marie (later called Maria) becomes the aid of the vulnerable; a raped child, a teenager in labour and several women abused by their owners, lovers or husbands.
The reader is introduced to many well-known names in South African history. It is a story of political strife, hardship, politics and love. It is about people and the issues they face.
From meagre remnants such as court records, medical invoices, auctions and wills Joan Kruger uncovers a rich and gripping story, told with humour and pathos. Wieg: die verhaal van Maria du Plessis, née Buisset, (1679 – 1751) Hugenoot en vroedvrou is a find for historians and readers, shedding new light on a shared past.

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1 x Boek