Student Comrade Prisoner Spy

When Bridget Hilton-Barber got on a train to Grahamstown in 1982 to study journalism at Rhodes University, she had no idea of the brutal drama that would unfold. A rebellious young woman, she became politically involved in anti-apartheid organisations and was caught up in the massive resistance and repression sweeping the Eastern Cape at the time. She ended up spending three months in detention without trial, and after her release discovered she had been betrayed by one of her best friends, Olivia Forsyth, who was a spy for the South African security police. Thirty years later, a horrific flashback triggers Bridget’s journey back to the Eastern Cape to see if she can forgive her betrayer and finally let go of the extraordinary violence she encountered in the final days of apartheid. This is her powerful story.

Bridget Hilton-Barber is a well-known travel writer and author based in Limpopo province. A former travel correspondent for Radio 702 and editor of Sawubona, SAA’s in-flight magazine, she has had a colourful career in the South African media spanning some twenty years and has written for most of South Africa’s top publications. Her memoir Garden of My Ancestors was the intensely personal story of her family and roots. This is her ninth book.