The serious emotional traumas and physical hardships suffered by a person who is forced out of sheer financial necessity to leave her tribal village and come to work in a totally alien urban environment, far removed from all that is familiar, is in itself not unique on a worldwide scale. However, if you add the many legal and cultural restrictions imposed on black people by the apartheid regime and prior to that under British colonial rule, then this terrible human experience is somewhat unique. Most previous books on this subject were non-fictional research efforts. Perhaps the best known example is Maids and Madams by Jacklyn Cock, a thoroughly researched and well-written text. Hopefully this novel does in some accurate sense summarise the dreadful experience which these indiviuals underwent.