Description

The title has a familiar poetic ring to it. It is the second half of a rhyme that goes back to 1475, when William Caxton wrote a book about games The Game and Playe of the Cheese. It was a divination game, about who you were going to marry. Then AA Milne recycled it in 1927, in Now We Are Six. It is a playful turn of phrase, but serious too. So it is both traditional and relevant, like the book, which has recycled “beggar man” as “bogyman”, to fit the narrative. And for gender balance, “poor man” has changed to “poor woman”… in keeping with the times.

Reviews

By Caroline Konstadt

I visualised this book as some kind of political book. Nothing can be further from the truth.

It is a rather sad book written by a Canadian journalist living in South Africa. As he describes himself, he is a “lonely old man” who fell in love with a young black woman. He paid a significant amount of money for her lobola only to have her try to set him up, perhaps for murder, and to refuse to live with him. Basically, she used him, committing fraud in terms of traditional law in the process.

It is a cautionary tale, and it would be maudlin and tacky if it were not so interesting and well written.
It is almost a primer on customary marriage in South Africa, and he raises interesting questions.
His insights into alcoholism, binge drinking and the national pattern of drinking in South Africa are very pertinent.

This is a fascinating look at South Africa through the eyes of a foreigner who has really made an effort to learn more than the average South Africa (black or white) knows about things.
Just a note to him if he is reading this. Photographs really are forbidden in Moria.