Under the African Sun
By Gail Gilbride

$15.95 USD

Cape Town, South Africa
Remember that desperate time after university when career choices are made intertwined with mating matters? Love, desire, work, all jostle for time and space in a swirl of emotion and choice, set on South Africa’s 1970s stage with the grim backdrop of apartheid’s security police looming.

Deborah Morley is an intern on a Cape Town newspaper. She’s told to shadow Charlie, the political reporter, and she gets to listen to the Prime Minister’s shocking speech and observe the reporting of it. She begins to have doubts about her choice of a news journalist career. What she really wants is a fairy tale wedding and a picket fence future in the suburbs. But her country is being torn apart by unrest and she’s in love with Chris, a Politics lecturer at the university.

Publisher: Cactus Rain Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-0-9962812-5-6
Genre: Political Fiction, South Africa
Format: Print
Pages: 208

About the Author

Gail Gilbride Bohle is a semi-retired English and Communications Skills lecturer. She lives in Hout Bay, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa.

Gail holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rhodes University and a Post-Graduate teaching diploma from UCT.

Gail stays current with South African politics, mentoring teenagers, attending Cape Town City Ballet, enjoying music evenings at the Barleycorn club, as well as the Kirstenbosch summer concerts and swimming in the sea no matter what the temperature. She is married to Hanns and they have a daughter, Kirsten.

In 1976, Gail was completing her Politics Major at Rhodes University. The Soweto Riots of June 1976 was one of the many traumatic events which inspired her to write Under the African Sun.

Praise for Under the African Sun

“Gail Gilbride’s debut novel, Under the African Sun, set in South Africa during the apartheid era, is a richly observed tale of love, heartbreak, and personal and political turmoil, delivered with poignancy and a touch of humor. Readers will want to turn the pages to find out how the characters deal with and rise above the conflicts that threaten their happiness and their futures in a country torn by racial discord. Deftly written, heartfelt, and engaging, this charming book will appeal particularly to lovers of romance and historical fiction.”

Lynette Brasfield, author, Nature Lessons: A Novel, St. Martin’s Press, NY, 2003

“This love story definitely needs to be shared. Deborah is a character people can relate to. She accepts herself for who she is, becomes the journalist she is meant to be, and see the world as it really is. Throughout those years of turmoil she retains her kindness and follows her heart. Though life dealt her and Chris a terrible blow, at the end both of them know they had something very special and will be okay. Under The African Sun is a reminder that love is a gift.”

— Gillian Gilbride, First class flight attendant and part-time recruiter at Etihad airlines

“Gail Gilbride’s Under The African Sun puts the puzzle pieces of a young graduate’s life into a swirl of emotion and choice, set on South Africa’s 1970s stage with the grim backdrop of apartheid’s security police looming. Fresh, entertaining, emotional and enjoyable, this old-fashioned love story with a twist is a delight to read.”

Peter Sullivan, former Editor of The Johannesburg Star

“Under The African Sun, a story of love in a time of turmoil captures the fear, the excitement, and the danger of a country on the brink. Through a young woman’s coming of age, Gail Gilbride documents the awakening of a society.”

Dr. Jo-Anne Richards, mentor at allaboutwritingcourses.com, Author of “The Imagined Child”

“Gail Gilbride’s Under the African Sun asks whether love can survive the turmoil and ideological confusion of South Africa’s political liberation. The answers it provides are both provocative and inspiring.”

Richard Beyond, mentor at allaboutwritingcourses.com

“A hauntingly beautiful love story set against difficult times in South Africa. I carry it with me in my heart.”

Marie-Anne Ogle, Communication Skills lecturer at Cape Peninsula University of Technology