Apartheid ended almost exactly twenty years ago, but its effects are still palpable. Here the authors have pulled together the stories of a diverse set of seven people living in post-apartheid South Africa.

It's a smart book, starting with the selection of participants. This isn't a random group -- they were chosen based on race, class, gender, and political view (among, presumably, other factors). The authors don't make the mistake of treating these individuals as representatives of their class/race/etc., but rather treat them as examples of how the end of apartheid has affected different people from different walks of life.

Each individual is treated as something of a case study -- we don't get full biographies, and there isn't a linear narrative or question of, chronologically, 'what happened next?' Instead we see Brandon's loss of tangible financial benefits associated with being White (capitalised per the book); Daniel's success, which would have been impossible (or close to) during apartheid; Thandwisa's lost and unavailable opportunities. Their stories are told separately, one after another, but with periodic links back to other subjects to make the connections clearer. Add to that dozens of supplemental interview and statistics (read the endnotes!) to give a broader picture, and you have a really interesting, complex look at the way the end of apartheid has changed things in, and for, South Africa.

Although it isn't within the scope of the book, in some of the cases I wished there were full-length works about the participants -- Suzanne sounds like she'd have some intense stories to tell.

I received a free copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway.