Queen of the Free State

The outsider on the inside. The one who watches and listens. The bearer of tales… Growing up Jewish in a small town in the Free State in the ’50s and ’60s, Jennifer Friedman moves between child and adult, black and white, as Verwoerd’s grand apartheid is dividing South Africa. There are midnight escapes, stolen loot and banned comics. Frogs’ legs, eisteddfods, icy drives with Grandpa, hideous encounters with bras, terrifying policemen, albino messengers and Pa’s beatings. Told with humour and pathos, Friedman’s memoir brings to life a strong sense of place, love, rebellion and betrayal.