The paths of two women intersect first at the scene of a tragedy and then again, a decade later. Consequently, Colleen discovers clues to the truth about her mother’s death while Michelle’s already fragile existence is plunged into further chaos.
Despite the promise of a new start for all in a post-apartheid South Africa, lingering 20th century Cold War conflicts impact the lives of these four people who come to measure retribution over love and redemption against an expedient lie.
Edward Christopher Razzano is a native of Cape Town where he was educated in mechanical engineering and economics after completing schooling in the nearby town of Stellenbosch. He worked for two decades in the financial services industry and in his retirement, coaches Squash.
His interests include macro-economics as well as cosmology.
He now lives with his partner, Ilse Krige in the city of Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
Zaheera –
A daring read and compelling read, Red Fawn is a narrative of colourful characters whose unique persona’s do an excellent job of keeping the reader gripped.
The book is an informative glimpse of the diverse familial background of South Africans; an honest and authentic interpretation presented through a contextual view through the vivid scenes. no sugar coating adds some sweetness. The author achieved this through looking beyond the veil of societies “air’s and graces” which keep society stagnant. This carried through the links as the characters cross paths, tackling themes and topics with passion & conviction. The twists and turns from an architect with wit and a sharp mind.
I appreciated that the author was able to project some negative potentially scenarios that may have been encountered as a reality of the past; some stories which wouldn’t have been shared to shield the younger generation or even reputation, and as such were topics simply not discussed! There is a clear benefit of coming to grips with truths; that human err is something natural, a disaster only if not corrected and left to fester. This is exemplified through the benefits that correctional services can offer through rehabilitation, rather then it being a stigma.
A gem of this book was discovering the quaint streets of South Africa, it’s old charm, revisited through great memories which many look past when thinking of South Africa in the Apartheid era; these bringing back precious memories shared by my previous generation.
Whilst I do feel that the take on mental health/mental illness could be revisited, I cannot fault an authentic understanding of it as potentially observed.
I enjoyed that the author was able to differentiate between religion & faith. Delving through topics of religion and faith was appreciated as shared through the authors narrative; but may however be misconstrued, should an audience of faith not being able to view it without an open mind. A disclaimer, I would say here, know yourself and what’s important to you before judging.
The take home is that beyond smoke and mirrors, good values exists in inherent human traits, when values are transparent. Society cannot progressed by an in the box mentality, appreciate each unique individuals, why else does the term identity exist?
I highly recommend this book to an adventurous audience who can relish a brave and daring story, loves delving into the bite of life that shape the history behind each human. The world needs progressive thinkers, acceptance and transparent values. This book gift to the reader as it is authentic and an expression of the author, and I appreciate that it will provoke thought and capture the interest of the next generation.
Neville James Smith –
Neville Smith 2023.06.10
Ed Razzano The Red Fawn (Rooi Bokkie) London: Europe Books, February 2023.
In his debut novel, Ed Razzano tells a compelling tale of love, lies and deception stretching across southern Africa with roots in Italy and Ireland. The title plays on ambiguity in the Afrikaans translation, where bokkie (small buck) can also mean young girl/girlfriend. The rooi (red) in this narrative also alludes to the membership of Renata Gambini to the Italian radical left movement of the 1970s called the Brigate Rosse (Red Brigade). Global politics are interfaced with post-independent South Africa and forces of radical liberation encounter the darker shades of the Apartheid military. It describes how the lives of two powerful women, who both lost their mothers very early, come to dominate the ruins of a dystopian world. Michelle struggles to survive severe mental illness and a failed marriage by embracing her criminal abductor. While the younger Colleen returns from her post-graduate studies in Ireland to uncover the dark truths about her mother’s fatal motor accident and find romance in an unlikely quarter.
It is a fast moving story that exposes family and societal conflict and divisions around every corner. The events unfold primarily in scenic parts of the Western Cape long after the euphoria of South African liberation has given way to the delusions of an advanced kakistoracy (government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state).
Women who have experienced a deep sense of loss, due to the absence of or deceit by a parent, try to make meaning out of the confusion in their lives. Both Michelle and Colleen find themselves at the centre of a violent world often dominated by powerful, unscrupulous and wealthy men. To some extent they are inhabited by demons linked to their parent’s hidden involvement or relationships that come back to haunt the daughters. In Michelle’s case, she is part of a dysfunctional family, and at war with her male siblings. Colleen is isolated after the death of her mother and unable to accept her Irish emigrant father’s reluctance to review the events surrounding his wife’s sudden death.
The males are often flawed characters that struggle to re-integrate into normal civilian life years after some traumatic events in their military service. Beatle, a former NCO, is on the run from the law, the past, and his own inability to become part of society. He hooks up with Michelle, and as a survivalist used to a precarious existence on the margins of society, he accompanies her on her terrifying odyssey. Both of them become incarcerated for their crimes and somehow survive. Beatle comes to embrace the ‘healing’ and transformation presaged by a lucrative new church his crusading mother has founded. David Marsden, a former platoon leader who responsible for the death of a soldier in Namibia during the South African ‘Border War’, leads a double life in the corporate world, until Staff-Sergeant Du Preez enters the fray. The latter has reinvented himself as a mercenary in a security firm that carry out assassinations at the behest of those that hire them. He endeavours to silence Marsden from writing articles about Apartheid crimes through his leverage over Beatle.
In the closing stages of this animated thriller, filled with action and winding turns, it is a beautiful young woman who takes steps to defeat the dark forces of evil. In doing so, she discovers romance amid the ruins of a broken society.
Razzano has engaged with a number of controversial aspects of historical and contemporary South African society in the telling of an exciting story. His insights and observations are striking, provocative, humorous and unique. While they make no claim to objectivity or truth and simply illustrate a different way of seeing things, they avoid what Eric Fromm describes as the narcissistic orientation in which ‘one experiences as real only that which exists within oneself, while the phenomena of the outside world have no reality in themselves, but are experienced only from the viewpoint of their being useful or dangerous to one’ (The Art of Loving).
Readers with different views on history, ideology, faith and society may be challenged by certain events, perspectives and descriptions in this imaginary world Razzano has placed before us. While comedy and wit abound, it is not a circus. Many scenes are visceral and characters endure suffering, but the audience will be drawn into the tensions and conflict rather than being able to gaze upon a calm ocean rolling beneath a sunny sky.