Kaffir Boy - Growing Out Of Apartheid

fir Boy – Growing Out of Apartheid (1987) by Mark Mathabane (The Bodley Head)

From the shantytowns of Alexandra to the tennis courts that would open a path to freedom, Mark Mathabane’s autobiography is a raw, unflinching account of growing up under South Africa’s apartheid regime. Brutally honest yet filled with resilience, Kaffir Boy traces his journey through poverty, hunger, and oppression, and the unlikely escape route he carved with a tennis racket in hand.

Published in 1987 by The Bodley Head, this edition captures the urgency and power of Mathabane’s story at the very moment the world’s attention was fixed on South Africa’s struggle.

Our copy: a well-thumbed veteran, spine creased like the lines of hard living it describes, pages carrying the faint musk of decades on dusty shelves. A book that has clearly been read, passed around, and survived — much like its author. Not pristine, not collectible — but absolutely readable, and still carrying all the weight of its words.

A vital slice of history, best enjoyed with a strong cup of tea and perhaps a tolerance for yellowed pages.

Ex-library book. City of Westminster Public Libraries

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