A fascinating and long-forgotten novel about the experiences of a German Jewish woman from the end of the First World War to the mid-1930s, her growing awareness of the rise of Nazism and her search for a home as a refugee. The story of the struggle to establish an identity in an unstable and intolerant world, told in an unforgettable voice.

Makeshift traces the story of Charlotte Herz, a German Jewish woman, from the end of the First World War and the time of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazism. Campion details Charlotte's struggle to establish her identity in the midst of increasing anti-Semitism and violence against Jews. Finally, driven into exile, she roams from England to South Africa and Australia before settling, uneasily, in New Zealand. Charlotte's stubborn, irrascible outlook makes her a caustic and often bitingly funny observer and her unique voice becomes an irresistable narrative voice. A unique account of the experience of exile that makes for an unforgettable novel.

"A splendid and disturbing novel." - Liverpool Daily Post

About the Author

Born the daughter of a Cambridge don in 1906, Sarah Campion taught in Germany from 1933 to 1937, when she was expelled for refusing to collaborate with Nazi authorities. This and her encounters with apartheid in South Africa instilled in her a lifelong dedication to political activism. She spent a year in Australia, in which she set her most famous novel, Mo Burdekin, then returned to England at the start of World War Two. She published 11 novels between 1936 and 1951. She eventually settled in New Zealand, where she worked as a journalist and organizer in social movements. She died in 2002.

Reviews

"Here is a writer with the drive of a steam engine, a writer never content with compromise. A splended and disturbing novel." - Liverpool Daily Post

"High praise is due to Miss Campion's gifts of descriptive writing. Charlotte is a completely consistent character, intensely interesting and absolutely alive." - Leonora Eyles, Times Literary Supplement

Book Information
ISBN 9781915812483
Author Sarah Campion
Format Paperback
Page Count 350
Imprint UEA Publishing Project
Publisher UEA Publishing Project
Weight(grams) 180g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 10mm