OUR MAN IN MBABANE

I really enjoyed reading this book. But if you go into it expecting the excitement, depth and nuance of le Carré or Graham Greene - well, just don’t. But it’s definitely enjoyable in a different sort of way.

It’s the story of Frank George, an American in his upper 20s, recently graduated with a Masters Degree from the London School of Economics. He moves to Swaziland (Eswatini) to transport guns and munitions into South Africa for the African National Congress in the fight against Apartheid.

With idealistic political ideas and the energy of youth, George describes in memoir form his life as an expat in Mbabane. Working for the Swazi government as a statistician during the day and socializing and partying the rest of the time, we follow George’s three year experience in Africa during the late 1970s.

One thing that I found especially interesting about this book is how, through George’s social and work situations, we are exposed to some of the horrible workings of Apartheid on a very personal level. A very pleasant experience, on the other hand, were the wonderful descriptions of the beauty of Africa. Outings to nature preserves, Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge and Crater in Tanzania, Kruger Park in South Africa, Kunduchi Beach, Mlilwane Game Reserve, and Sheba’s Breast are among the fabulous places George visited. Hiking on forest and mountains trails, discovering waterfalls, and swimming in natural pools and streams all sounded so spectacular.

I admired Frank George for having the courage and ambition to move somewhere totally foreign to his prior experience, and how he seemed to make the best of many difficult situations. I’m not quite sure how much of this book is actual memoir and how much is fiction, but it is enjoyable nonetheless.

I would like to thank NetGalley and K.E. Karl for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was an unexpectedly fun novel about the shenanigans in Swaziland of an undercover African National Congress agent in the late 1970s. It’s apparently based on a true story; I’m still confused about what might be memoir (presumably) and what made up, but I guess it doesn’t really matter.

The protagonist is an American economist who is approached while in London with a request to run guns from Swaziland to South Africa for the ANC. He, being a Leftie, eventually finds the proposition appealing—he wants to make a difference—and so he leaves his girlfriend and goes down to Mbabane to see the lay of the land. He manages to get a job with the government, and settles into the expat life, only being called on occasionally to carry guns in his modified van across the border. His major advantage is that he is a White man, and therefore less suspicious to the South African authorities.

It’s, like I said, an unexpectedly fun read. It reads much more like a memoir than a novel, which is a good thing. The writing is very good generally, and I enjoyed the author’s sense of humour, and description of that time and place. If the protagonist is “non-racial” in that slightly cringey way—he ends up dating a “mixed-race” (“Coloured”) woman who has ”fine facial features” and a “narrow nose” (: and his ANC contacts in Swaziland seem rather buffoonish—I did not feel it was malicious, just a way of seeing the world.

Two other smaller criticisms: K. E. Karl goes on quite a lot about the details of the protagonist’s job, which isn’t at all necessary for the story. The novel could also be quite a lot shorter and tighter; there’s a whole section towards the end (when the protagonist sees that he must leave Swaziland) that feels telescoped because the earlier bits got a bit long-winded. There are also snippets about a trip he makes near the end of the novel that, again, don’t add much to the story, but definitely added to my bewilderment.

On the whole, though, this is a fun read, and I think you’ll enjoy the spy bits like I did. Read also for the excellent description of expat Mbabane at that time, for the protagonist’s droll commentary on it, for how he talks about wine every few minutes, and for his girlfriends, who are really fantastic people. The actual historical bits of the novel—about Joe Slovo, Ruth First, the Soweto massacre, etc—didn’t do much for me, but will be important for context for those who don’t know the history.

Thank you to K. E. Karl and to NetGalley for this fun ARC.

Frank sees himself as a socialist and accepts a job in Swaziland (Eswatini) to run guns into South Africa for the ANC to aid in their fight against the apartheid regime.

This was a well written book, and it was researched well.

It's the late 1970s, and Frank George, in his mid-20s and just out of university, is hired for political missions: since he has already attracted attention for his commitment for a free Chile, he is asked whether he likes to work for the ANC, Mandela's anti-apartheid party in South Africa. However, this is not about taking part in demonstrations, but he is asked to smuggle weapons from Swaziland to South Africa. Frank agrees, and his life is about to change - he moves from London to Africa and finds a job in Swaziland to operate undercover. And we as readers accompany Frank
as he leads a relaxed life in Mbabane as a conservative ex-pat and statistician on the one hand, and on the other hand secretly supports the paramilitarical wing oft he ANC.
So much for the content. The announcement of the novel as a spy thriller caught me, and I
was expecting something like a Le Carrè - novel....or at least hoped for one 😉....and unfortunately I have to say that it wasn't like that at all. The novel is told from Frank's first-person perspective, and basically he tells us about his new life in Mbabane/ Swaziland, and most of the time it's not really thrilling. Life there is quite leisurely in the 70s, the ex-pat community there likes to celebrate one party after the other,
they ere exploring the area, going hiking and sightseeing,, and Frank gets involved in various romances, none of which are really deep . Every once in a while he has a job to do for the ANC, which I found quite interesting again, but it's not the case that a top-class agent is talking about his life.
So after the second delivery of arms, it's not that exciting anymore.
The novel scores with the coherent and exciting description of the social and political conditions in South Africa and neighboring countries at the time. The apartheid policy was extremely violent and hard to imagine for us today. The setting was authentic and I learned a lot here.
My reading impression: is rather luke-warm. On the one hand, the book was written quite fluently and pleasantly, and it was quite easy to read. On the other hand, it just did not meet my expectations. I didn't get my spy thriller, it was just two or three years in the life of a young man who would like to get involved in a just cause, but also likes to live his life in a relaxed manner and tries to find the balance between these two sides. And who, unfortunately, wasn't very sympathetic to me. That was also one of my problems with this novel, dear Frank didn't really appeal to me. His relationships had no depth for me, neither with his girlfriends nor with his other friends. And in the end it wasn't really clear to me what he wants to do with his life at all. Although I only skimmed through the last quarter of the book, precisely because the good man no longer really interested me….
So all in all, I rate 3 out of 5 stars and thank the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!

As someone born and raised in South Africa, much of the setting and descriptions in the book felt familiar - it felt like reading a book written by an uncle or family friend. It was clear that the author has spent a lot of time in the areas described, and the descriptions were detailed and placed the reader in the middle of a world filled with beer, braais, and beautiful scenery.

Apartheid was before my time, and so is something I have only learned about through anecdotes and through school. Knowing that the book is based on the personal experiences of the author made it all the more interesting to read about. I have no idea what aspects of the story are fictionalised, but it all felt believable and well researched, if not experienced.
I enjoyed the mixture of commentary on his social life, and his contribution to the ANC's efforts. For me personally, the writing style and detailed backstories of the characters worked well and added a layer of context to the plot - an ex-pat seemingly enjoying a normal life is actually a political dissident. With that said however, I do feel to be categorised as a thriller, there could have been more detail about how his political views came to be and how they came to change, and about the tasks he completed on behalf of the ANC.
I would also have loved to see more about his trip at the end of the book - it felt like a sneak peek at something incredibly interesting.

Overall, I enjoyed the concept, the writing style and the level of detail behind the characters and everyday life during Apartheid. I feel like there was room for more detail in a few areas, but generally enjoyed the book. I didn't find myself desperate to read the next chapter at any point, but I also didn't find myself putting the kindle down too often. Pacing was mostly decent, with a slightly rushed feeling towards the end.
3.5 stars, rounded to 4.

If you've ever lived in South, southern or East Africa you'll find much resonance in the author's description of the places, people, things and activities. From the gentle pace of life in Mbabane, the close-knit expat community, to anecdotes regarding Castle and Lion lager, and their predilection for afternoon braais with copious amounts of the aforementioned beer (a braai is a colloquial Afrikaans word for Barbeque). There is mention of the local watering holes, theatre, abundant hikes in the surrounding countryside, house-warmers and plenty of day-to-day gossip and speculation regarding who is sleeping with whom, and so forth. There are smatterings of humour and self-deprecation, which help fill out the picture and lend some sympathy to the emotional turmoil of the main protagonist, Frank George.

While I enjoyed the author's descriptive detail and observations, especially as regards 1980s South Africa and Swaziland, it was his social exploits which took centre stage. They constitute the majority of the social interactions, and have the effect of diluting the 'thriller' aspect to the book, namely the cross-border gun-running. It is obvious that the author spent a good deal of time in the region by virtue of his description of time and place. He fleshes out the various expat characters generously, but leaves far less room for the details of his escapades on behalf of the ANC (the African National Congress, the party of Nelson Mandela), who are living in exile. I would have liked him to expound more on his views and thoughts as regards the resistance movement. Frank professes to be an ardent socialist to begin with, but towards the end becomes somewhat disillusioned. However, the transition between the two states of mind is only briefly analysed, and primarily put down to the fact that his social life was being jeopardised and that he was tired of the deception. While it may be the truth, it left me feeling a bit disappointed.

The last chapter is hastily given over to his return to the UK and then the US and landing a consulting job for a private firm. At the very end he whooshes off to Mozambique at the behest of the anti-apartheid activist, Ruth First, wife of Joe Slovo, another celebrated ANC Stalwart in the Struggle. It would have been interesting if the author had fleshed this episode out from a few pages to a chapter or two, because he hints at all sorts of interesting dynamics and real-world events and intrigue.

However, knowing that this book was based on the experiences of the author, I have to applaud his efforts in helping the struggle against apartheid. The risks were considerable and being caught by the South African authorities would almost certainly meant imprisonment, and the possibility of physical and mental abuse. I would be fascinated to know where the boundary between fact and fiction lay in his real-life experiences.