STAR OF THE MORNING

'I knew then that there were some things not even Ruby could keep from mefor ever and this was one of them. We were coloured girls in a white worldthat didn't want us.' Born on the wrong side of a racial divide inapartheid-torn Cape Town, young sisters Ruby and Rose exist in a worldwhere they are not welcome. As part of the Cape Coloured community theyare considered socially inferior, yet even within their own social groupthe sisters live down the poor end of town. Their father was killed whenthey were very small, so when their mother dies after a protractedillness. Ruby and Rose's fate falls into the hands of Aunt Olive. Rubyknows without being told that their aunt's home will not be opened up tothem - charity does not extend to the poor relations who would cast asmudge on such a respectable house. Aunt Olive condemns her nieces to thelocal orphanage, relieving her conscience with monthly invitations toSunday lunch. In the orphanage the girls grow up sheltered from a dividedworld that they do not yet fully understand, but the day approaches whenRuby and Rose must forge their own paths in life and confront the lessonsthat apartheid enforces. Like the award-winning "Dance with a Poor Man'sDaughter", this beautifully observed novel of sisterly love once againdisplays Pamela Jooste's poignant understanding of human nature.