one of the wonderful things, in spite of all the terrible things that happen in South Africa, is the way people continue to keep their dignity. They … - Nadine Gordimer

There was no mistaking her. She was a young woman whose cultivated gentleness of expression and shabby homespun style of dress, in the context in which she was encountered, suggested not transcendental meditation centre or environmental concern group or design studio, but a sign of identification with the humanity of those who had nothing and risked themselves.

Television and newspapers show people's lives at a certain point. But novels tell you what happened after the riot, what happened when everybody went home.

When you live in a small town far from the world you read about in municipal library books, the advent of repair men in the house is a festival. Daily life is gaily broken open, improvisation takes over.