The stories history forgot

Can literature teach us our history or help us to change our perception of the past?

- Ahmet Sait Akcay

History abounds with gaps, only stories imparted through generations could account for that. Stories do not only pass down the accounts but also lifestyles, manners, custom and most importantly, culture that shape the society.Nadia Davids' novel, Cape Fever astonishingly enlightens the life of a Muslim girl living in a society which she is not fully part of. It is a captivating story of Cape Malays who were brought to the Cape Colony 100 years ago as slaves.

Cape Fever follows the story of a domestic servant, Soraya, who works for a house lady, Mrs Hattingh. It is set after World War I in an imagined colonial town in South Africa that is meant to be Cape Town. The impact of WWI is deeply felt; war stories are all over and memories hurt. Mothers who lost their beloved ones mourn. Those who are waiting for their sons to come over. Mrs Hattingh is one of them, all memories of her son are preserved in his room. She hardly touches anything in the room.

Once privileged to be part of the middle-middle class, she covers her bills thanks to her son’s pension from the War Office, London.

Soraya works at an old colonial manor where she is expected to do everything, from gardening to cooking. The setting is Victorian and grotesque, incorporating ghostly tales that preoccupy Soraya’s mind.