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THE BOOKS

 

THE GIRLS ARE BACK! and the TRUTH is on the WALLS  were enjoyable and rewarding to write because so many women collaborated, bringing the nonfictions to fruition.  Both books deal with ancestors and the courage it takes to expose the truth -- wherever she may hide herself.  The Memoir and Biography are now a part of history that was re-written though THE GIRLS ARE BACK! is predominantly from my perspective so give that information the weight it deserves, which does not diminish the re-writing of one crazy-making family's place in the world of secrets, appearances and stigmas.  I hope the Memoir is helpful for those who want to reach a better understanding of dysfunctional family dynamics, and that the Biography adds to a history not generally known in the U.S.

 

NOTE:  One can purchase all books on amazon.com.  At the site, place my name (Donna Brenneis) in the search bar; all books pop up.   The Memoir is available in the US, UK, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, India, Japan, Barnes and Noble, Books, Inc. and other retail outlets and book stores.

THE GIRLS ARE BACK!
ISBN-13: 978-0615841953; 10:0615841953

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013946118

Published by Thaga's Tree (September 2013)

 

​In writing this book I wanted to know: where did I come from and why am I here? After trying to dig as deeply as possible into an unusual family history, I may have received one answer to the queries.  All ancestors are dead so there was no opportunity to question them directly about their lives, and no well-founded reason to expect veracity anyway. The complete lack of something resembling a real and fuller truth was my reason for inquisitiveness in the first place. Most likely, more comprehensive slices of family history were located because I had to thrive on my own vivid and contradictory memories (which some might consider musing unless one takes into consideration that my family was extraordinary at protecting secrets), Shamanic practices, messages from the hereafter and visions. Some new insights turned my head around thanks to the Shaman, OwlSnake, who still shows me the way through ancestor healings, a Medical Intuitive who sees right through me, and my own cousins who courageously contributed to THE GIRLS ARE BACK! The entire affair has been gutsy for everyone involved: it is not easy to step out alone, onto a public stage, with any semblance of the truth and so many unanswerd questions.

the TRUTH is on the WALLS

ISBN 978-0-86486-739-1

Published by David Philip an imprint of New Africa Books,

Cape Town, South Africa (August 2011) 

 

This is the story of "coloured" oppression in South Africa's Western Cape and the Biography of Naz Gool Ebrahim who came from a well-known, political family that helped to settle Cape Town.  It's an intriguing story of two related women who struggled against British segregation and the restrictive laws under apartheid.  Naz frequently commented that her aunt's spirit (Cissie Gool) dwelled among the ruins of District Six, but I believe both of their spirits soar over the heights of Table Mountain, circling Lion's Head and the caves along Devil's Peak.  Ultimately, it took the collaborative efforts of two women (Shahena Wingate-Pearse -- Naz's daughter -- and Donna Ruth Brenneis) to get this book published after more than thirty years.  Though Naz did not live to see her book picked up by a publisher, she left two women who were determined that she not fall through history's cracks after struggling on behalf of her own family and the community for so many years. 

 

What made Naz so interesting to me was how she maintained her own sense of self without internalizing someone else's idea of what she should be.  Naz's well known aunt (Cissie Gool) became deeply involved in the country's politics when she was about thirty-three (1930); ultimately, some of Naz's relatives were forced to flee South Africa.  Importantly, Naz preferred a family to politics though it was nearly impossible not to be political under the laws of apartheid.  Naz was a teacher who refused to teach history from one prejudicial viewpoint -- that of Afrikaaners who supported the government.  After teaching full-time in the townships for more than twenty years, Naz was without a pension because no school would hire her for more than a year due to her refusal to instruct children from a bigoted point of view.  At the age of fifty-five she rose from the ashes of a nearly demolished District Six in Cape Town to wage a struggle against the common practice of forced removals that was another brainchild of the apartheid regime.  I met her five years after District Six was totally destroyed and therein lies yet another story of courage and commitment.

 

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Heart Drops

ISBN-13: 978-1492842934; 10: 1492842931

Published by Thaga's Tree (October 2013)

 

Heart Drops is a small collection of poems that cover life events, family, nature, former lovers, neighborhoods, irony and courage of the poet's muses in South Africa.

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