MOEDERLAND, nine daughters of South Africa

348pp., illus., paperback, London, 2024

"Cato Pedder ... uses her family’s legacy to unearth stories of women that shaped, and were shaped, by a troubled nation ... It is women and their role in South Africa’s past that form the subject of Moederland and through which Pedder attempts to understand herself and where or how she belongs ... Informed by impressively thorough research, Pedder follows nine of her female ancestors (family trees are included at the start of the book), from the 17th century when the Dutch first landed at the Cape, and moving through the centuries, via the 'great trek' of settlers into the interior, the atrocities of the Boer war, and the shame and horror of apartheid. Exploring the past, bringing it to vivid life with wonderful prose, she intersects the lives of her ancestors with her own thoughts and experiences" Karen Jennings, The Guardian

Former journalist Cato Pedder was born in California and raised in England. A great-granddaughter of South African prime minister Jan Smuts, she spent childhood holidays in South Africa. A published poet, she works for the Quakers and lives in Bristol.