Thursday, April 18, 2013

Quote of the Day

By this time they had circled round Tugela Road, along Congo Road, and were about to come down Orange Road to Nile Road. A very ragged native boy leading a pony was leaving the road to go across the koppie when Susan rushed at him, barking loudly.
"Susan! Bad dog! Come here!" called Belinda.
Mike rushed up and seized Susan's collar. "It's all right," he assured the native boy, between barks, restraining Susan with difficulty, "she - isn't - savage - really - she only - looks - savage!"

From VENTURE TO SOUTH AFRICA, Chapter 8, Enter Stella. Susan, of course, is not Susan Lyle, but the Eliots' Airedale. Both Susans were created around the same time, in the early 1950s. Although only published in 1960, Venture to South Africa was actually written soon after Jane Shaw and her family moved to Johannesburg in 1952. Lutterworth bought it in 1953 but never published it. Her editor at Nelson Publishers purchased the manuscript in the late 1950s and made sure that it was put into book form. 

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