The novel captures and plots the lives of three typical South African families and their heirs, from the turn of the 20th century up to modern times, with regards to how Apartheid affected them. There is a typical rural black family, a typical Afrikaans family and a middle-class English family. Each of the families is caught up in the abhorrence of the Apartheid system with its dire and cruel circumstances. However, there is a change after Democratic rule, and reverse Apartheid rears its head with its modern-day horrors.