 St James Church in Cape Town was the scene of a terrible shoot-out. A friend’s husband was killed in the crossfire. Violence was erupting everywhere. Where and how would we find peace in South Africa? Inspired by all of this,
BOIKIE YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT is a story that questions violence and reflects a time of confusion for all South Africans. It has been described as South Africa’s Adrian Mole takes on Hillbrow. It’s a story of the relationship between Danny and his father who ‘sees’ things. It’s about transition between boyhood and adulthood. It’s about violence and about being empowered. And it’s about truth – who sees it – and who knows it. From Sandra L. Beckett’s Book ‘Cross-over Fiction’ : ‘Hofmeyr deals with important issues without the least trace of writing down to her audience. The mature issues raised in her juvenile novels include violence and erotic fantasy… other novels in the M-Net short-list for that year included J.M. Coetzee’s Master of Pietersburg and Mike Nichol’s Horseman.’
Interview in a National South African Newspaper: ‘There are daring themes in this book. Why have you used clairvoyancy as one of the main themes?’ Barry Hough. ‘Life is full of mysterious currents. In Boikie You Better Believe It, I tried to show there are many ways of ‘seeing’. Danny believes things are happening to him which aren’t really true. He is looking for reality but confuses issues and misreads the world.’ Dianne Hofmeyr. |
 Published by Tafelberg, South Africa
Winner of two AWARDS: The M-NET BOOK AWARD 1995 – established by M-Net, a commercial television station based in South Africa to encourage the writing of quality novels by South African authors that could be adapted for the screen. The SANLAM GOLD AWARD for youth literature 1994. Boikie You Better Believe It was read in its entirety on the Morning Novel slot on SABC’s National Radio. |
