Frances Strauss (–1991)

My Rhodesia by Frances Strauss is her memoir of a year and a half living in Southern Rhodesia as a teacher and also as a volunteer for the handicapped.

It covers the period around 1961 when race relations in Southern Rhodesia were reaching an all time low and the 1961 Referendum was treacherously negotiated then passed into law despite the vocal (and majority) opposition of most of the black citizenry.

Whilst there are many pages dedicated to her experiences which do not involve race relations, it is a feature of both the book and Southern Rhodesia, that whether someone is black or white effects a large portion of life. For example, Frances as a white woman needs permission to drive her car into a black suburb to pick up a handicapped child and visit her Shona teacher. (Shona a Bantu language spoken by the people of Mashonaland, which is located in the north of Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe).

My Rhodesia is an book that is easy to read, but covers a topic that certainly is not one of humanity's best moments. It is well worth the attention for a better understanding and first hand account of life in Southern Rhodesia before the 1965 civil war, and later creation of Zimbabwe.… (altro)