Thoughts on a Book – The Sabi, by Diane Brown

Over the last few weeks I've been looking for books online, books written by black African authors, particularly black South Africans. I was in deep search for an experience I can relate to. I love novels, but I'm in a stage where I've been searching for something more "real" than a novel. A true, human experience. I looked and looked, for days on end, and found nothing that I felt I could relate to.

So it was no easy feat. Looking for published work within my search criteria (black, South African, non-fiction) was, indeed, trying to find that needle in the haystack - story of my life. (I'm not complaining very much though, because one day, I'm sure I'll find that needle). I remained hopeful that I would find what I was looking for.

It so happens that I'm currently right in the heart of Africa, in a very remote area where there's absolutely no access to bookshops. So my access to literature is restricted to online searches. So even if I find what I'm looking for, it has to be available in EBook format because there are no delivery services where I am. Otherwise, I'd have to wait till I'm back home in South Africa. So my search for "the book" gets constricted even further – it must be by a South African author, black, non-fiction, a life story and in EBook. Needle!!!!

So after days of looking, I find something by an author I had, up to last week Friday, not heard of. How glad I would be.

Diane Brown, in her book "The Sabi", writes a personal life story of her upbringing, which had amazing features and contrasts - she was raised in a mixed race family, in apartheid South Africa. She had a father who was both charming and brutally harsh. She grew up in a home where there was relative abundance of everything material, but the children were never allowed sense of entitlement to these material possessions. She was adored by one grandmother, but disliked and unaccepted by the other. She does not explicitly say this in the book, in these exact words, but it’s almost safe to say that she first experienced apartheid at home - from relatives.

In the book, Brown places and explains the different stages of her life within the context of what was happening in South Africa and the world, particularly when it comes to issues of race equality and the emancipation of Africans. She takes the reader on a journey, where this emancipation of the African population somehow becomes her own emancipation from the shackles of her childhood.

There's an important issue in the book that she deals with - the violent nature of the South African society, particularly that of men across the racial spectrum. She places and explains this in context and gives her own experience of it, both from home and on the street. At certain stages of the book I had to put it down to pull myself together, to compose myself. It was a little bit difficult to handle. How much healing South Africa needs.

But if I had to give the book a theme, it would definitely come from the title itself, The Sabi. Unfortunately, it would be terribly difficult to explain the concept of the Sabi, without spoiling the book for you. It's something that you will have to discover on the journey with Diane. The journey is worth it, I promise.

But there's one thing I will mention which is personal that I discovered in the book, and that is why I say this is only "half a book review" - it's personal. Diane, reveals and explores meeting her soulmate in the most beautiful way. People often have "mismeetings" and "meetings". Mismeeting, being where two people encounter one another, but are unfortunately floating in different frequencies, such that they struggle to truly and authentically connect. They struggle to relate. And then you have a "meeting", which is where the two are able to connect; in the course of their interaction, they "find" each other, they relate. And when that happens, it is the most beautiful thing. Words cannot describe it.

So I sent Diane an email , giving her my feedback on the book. In it, I thanked her for sharing her experience, particularly on how she met her soulmate and how they finally "found" each other. It gave me hope and assurance that such experiences do exist, I said to her. To my absolute delight and pleasure, Diane graciously responded to my email and in the most humbling and charitable way. Among other things she said to me, this is what she offered as encouragement on the issue of finding my soulmate, and I hope she doesn't mind my sharing some contents of a private conversation:

"Love as I described it really does exist. It is the most beautiful thing that we can experience. It is a force of creation that cannot be mimicked, manipulated, faked or forced. It is a powerful force. There is someone out there in this world that can share this kind of love with you and by its presence make you see the beauty in you and life around you.  I pray that you find your soul mate - I believe that your soul mate will find you too.

Please do not give up or settle for less.".

Ladies and gents, I Sabi.

Name  : The Sabi

Author : Diane Brown

Price    : $9.99 (Kindle version on Amazom.com)