SURVIVING THE FAMILY by Gill Marais

Cover design and book layout by Stella Stofberg

Gill Marais had an idyllic and privileged pre-war childhood in South Africa, land of her Huguenot ancestors, before moving to Europe and living the bohemian art-student dream in London. After aa troubled first marriage, with a revived lust for life she returned  to Europe and swinging London,  married a titled Frenchman and became a diplomat’s wife in Cold War Europe and Washington, USA, at key turning points in the sixties and seventies. After her second divorce she took up photojournalism and the search for spiritual enlightenment in the mountains of Ladakh.  Much of this world has now disappeared, literally and figuratively, in the political and social upheavals of the last fifty years.
Surviving the Family combines letters (seldom with politically correct comments) and describes encounters with the rich and famous, from those in the corridors of power, to royalty, the Pope and Dalí. Throughout the book runs the thread of coming to terms with her unusual parental relationships and the acceptance that you cannot force a loving bond.

Memoir /  World Affairs / Travel

Paperback: 240 mm x 165 mm
462 pages, 82 b/w photos

Readers who will find this book fascinating:

• Non-fiction readers who are interested in public figures and Society in the years of Change in America and Europe
• Travel enthusiasts
• History buffs, particularly world events

Surviving the Family by Gill Marais is available in (or can be ordered at) all major bookstores just quote the title, author and the following ISBN-number:
ISBN:  978-1-928283-29-4