What readers say about A Chameleon from the Land of the Quagga: An immigrant's story by Joan Bismillah
In Bismillah’s debut memoir, she discusses growing up in South Africa under apartheid, encountering prejudice toward mixed-race relationships, and escaping oppression through immigration. “This multi-hued society” of South Africa “should have adopted the quagga, that extinct beast with its varicoloured body, as an emblem for the country,” writes the author. In this book, Bismillah looks back on a life affected by racial segregation, and her remembrance has a sense of urgency: “Alzheimer’s, lurking in a recess of my brain, threatened to distort my recollections to a deconstructed, Picasso-like abstraction,” she discloses.  Read More...
 A Chameleon from the Land of the Quagga is a memoir that’s broad in scope yet sharp in its depiction of apartheid South Africa. Joan Bismillah’s sophisticated memoir A Chameleon from the Land of the Quagga covers a strenuous time in history. 
Bismillah was born in South Africa in 1928. One of her first memories is of her mother dying on her seventh birthday, after which she and her four siblings lived with their overbearing grandmother, with whom Bismillah often butted heads. During World War II, she and her sisters were sent to a convent school, where she spent her teenage years. She met her future husband, a South Africa born Muslim Indian, when they were students. Read More...
READERS' COMMENTS
"I enjoyed reading your book so much that I read it in two days.
You are truly an inspiration and incredible human being.
I relived my own life in South Africa and my immigration to Canada."
Bella L.
"A Chameleon in the Land of the Quagga is a well written, passionate memoir, first and foremost a love story that survives the uncivilized violence of legalized racism in a heinous apartheid regime. Joan’s writing is lyrical but she does not hold back.
She is direct and stark about the hazards she and Dr.Bismillah faced, those that were from government spies and thugs and those that were more subtle and covert. It’s a story of survival and definitely worth the rapturous read."
Vicky B.
"I read the book and was intrigued and fascinated by the story. I could relate to some of the experiences being born in the 50's under apartheid government. This book would make a box selling movie. Congratulations on a well written book . "
Rashida B.