ALEX LA GUMA A LITERARY AND POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY

IN THE DARK WITH MY DRESS ON FIRE IS THE REMARKABLE LIFE STORY OF BLANCHE LA GUMA, A SOUTH AFRICAN WOMAN WHO DEDICATED HER LIFE TO ENDING APARTHEID THROUGH HER VARIOUS ROLES AS PROFESSIONAL NURSE, WIFE AND MOTHER, AND UNDERGROUND COMMUNIST ACTIVIST. BORN INTO A POOR, WORKING-CLASS COLOURED FAMILY IN CAPE TOWN, BLANCHE MET HER FUTURE HUSBAND, THE NOVELIST ALEX LA GUMA, WHILE TRAINING AS A NURSE-MIDWIFE IN THE EARLY 1950S. TOGETHER THEY FOUGHT APARTHEID AT GREAT PERSONAL RISK BEFORE CONTINUING THE STRUGGLE IN EXILE IN LONDON AND HAVANA, CUBA. HARASSED, BANNED, AND IMPRISONED IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT FOR HER POLITICAL CONVICTIONS, BLANCHE WORKED AS A NURSE-MIDWIFE IN POOR BLACK COMMUNITIES ON THE CAPE FLATS. WITH ALEX CONSTANTLY DETAINED OR UNDER HOUSE ARREST, SHE WAS THE FAMILY'S ONLY BREADWINNER, A ROLE SHE WOULD CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THEIR LIFE TOGETHER. WHEN BLANCHE WAS NOT WORKING, VISITING HER HUSBAND IN PRISON, OR PROTECTING THEIR TWO YOUNG SONS EUGENE AND BARTO FROM HARASSMENT BY