Genesis of a Historical Novel: Liv’s Secrets

Liv’s Secrets bookends my first book on South Africa, Inside Apartheid (1988), a personal and political memoir of my anti-apartheid activism and life in South Africa, before I immigrated with my American-born husband and our family to the United States in the 1980s. 

Liv’s Secrets, my latest book, (April 2023) is a rich, historical saga set between 1880 -1960, a multi-generation history of the Weisz family. The central character is enigmatic and indomitable, third generation, Liv. Other complex characters people the saga and surprising interrelationships are formed among three powerful women in the family. Their lives play out against the backdrop of historic national, and international, events. 

I’ve been described in bios and elsewhere as an American author born in South Africa. I’m proud of this designation but think of myself as African American. Born in South Africa I have deep family roots and historical ties to southern Africa. My mother was born in Botswana to my Eastern European immigrant, dearly beloved grandfather, and the grandmother I never knew, as she died young. They were Jewish immigrants fleeing pogroms and other persecution.

From where did my abiding principle and dedication in working towards the aspiration of equality and universal human rights arise? If you are interested I explored this search in Inside Apartheid and, while not definitively so, concluded that my maternal grandfather, who prayed daily wrapped in his tallis, sparked the flame in me. Among many other gifts that I always remember from when I was a young girl, on our frequent walks he quoted passages from the biblical Book of Isaiah on the brotherhood of all men (humankind). These gifts burned into a flame in my commitment to fight racial discrimination in South Africa and wherever I find myself. A flame that burns in both Inside Apartheid and Liv’s Secrets.

I bonded with my grandfather and was riveted by his tales of what life was like for him in Bechuanaland at the end of the 19th century. His tales and my mother’s recollections of her family’s early life after their resettlement in Johannesburg where I was born, are the fictionalized first-generation pages of Liv’s Secrets. He loved South Africa, a love I inherited.

Liv’s Secrets had a multi-year gestation. Soon after we arrived in the States and with the manuscript of a historical novel I started in South Africa, I was fortunate to be connected to a legendary literary agent in New York. I sent her a copy of the manuscript.

 She gave me a few pointers. Among them she said I needed for Paul Kruger, the famous Boer president at that time-period (1890-1910) to be entangled with a Jewish mistress. I was appalled. A trained academic, I shuddered at the thought of fictionalizing historical figures. I never completed the revisions. A new life in Boston took precedence—family and career. I was teaching and could only write in the summers. 

But lesson learned. And after reading historical novels by authors I admire, I saw how that fictionalization can be achieved. I embarked on several other fictional attempts half-written novels mainly set against the racist background in South Africa. Happily, in Liv’s Secrets, I do mention President Paul Kruger briefly, and I created a character, a fictional daughter for him. She became a pivotal figure in the novel’s plot. 

During my time in Boston, I completed and published three more books—nonfiction—wrote regular book reviews, kept a blog on my website, and published essays. 

Yet, the character of Liv Weisz haunted me for years. I retired from teaching English and Philosophy after 30 years at Milton Academy to concentrate on writing. Instead, I became preoccupied with my relocation and settling into my new locale, as well as the welcome arrival of several grandchildren. 

Unexpectedly the deadly Covid-19 pandemic took hold. Despite all the horror and dire consequences of the virus, of which I am fully cognizant, there was also for me forced isolation and time to write fiction again. This time the narrative that had marinated for years, poured out of my brain onto the screen, and it all gelled.

My admiration for courageous, multi-dimensional women such as Liv, and other characters in the book, came to life on the page. My Jewish family roots proved inspirational. My deep knowledge of South African history and politics found specific paths into the novel. As did the land itself, arid in places—unforgettable ancient landscapes—as well as mainly other rich, luxuriant biomes. 

I’m excited to share Liv’s Secrets with you. Available now for preorder at online bookstores nationally and internationally.  

 Publication date: April 17, 2023—Emancipation Day in the United States.