What kind of bar mitzvah lasts just half an hour? From the highly unusual ceremony as he turned 13 to the day his family secrets exploded, Denis Hirson recreates 1960s Johannesburg in his breathtaking memoir. With the surprising help of his 11-year-old daughter, the writer and lecturer confronts the troubles of his past with wisdom and humour, finally coming to understand his own father. The bestselling author of The House Next Door to Africa joins us to reflect on familial and political divisions in apartheid-era South Africa, and the silences that surrounded his Jewish heritage.
An event from Jewish Book Week 2025
