Remembering Bosman

Book excerpt: A spellbinding and varied line-up of recollections of the star turn of the 20th-century South African literary scene. Included in this valuable tribute are detailed memoirs of four of Herman Charles Bosman's keepers of the flame: his colleague George Howard, his cousin Zita Grové, his disciple Lionel Abrahams; and the unpublished chapters by his widow, Helena Lake, never previously collected in book form. In addition there are souvenirs by Bosman's other wives and lovers. Tributes come from his press associates, while much intimate interview material is included to complete this strange portrait of Johannesburg's murderous blue-eyed boy. Their accumulated testimony here gives as good value as Bosman himself ever did during his embattled lifetime.