Press Release: JUST NOW, NOW NOW -JIM PARKER

Just Done Productions – Publishing would like to announce the publication of

Just Now, Now Now by Jim Parker  R160

 

Just Now, Now Now is a wittily composed memoir of an ex-pat Englishman. The story begins by showing the contrasting life led in Pretoria as a senior diplomat after Apartheid and ends with his departure to a cane farm in Zululand.

 

Jim Parker wanted a second career in a country and among a people that hypnotised him on arrival as Britain's first post-Apartheid Defence Adviser in 1993. He chose a small farm outside Mooi River in the Natal Midlands, where he and his wife began a B&B and tour broking business that eventually enjoyed startling success. Over 8 years, the Parkers did their bit within the community as best they could, but the customs, language, upbringing and outlook were not their own.

 

Just Now, Now Now is an amusing exposure of how South Africans appear to the outside world. The Parkers' trials and exasperations are described with humour and candour. The gentle style used and the constantly self-effacing summary of their own efforts makes this book both charming and funny.

 

But don't be fooled. This story does not shy away from the realities of rural life. It carries a rich social commentary as its story of a middle-aged couple finding their way with farming and tourism, unfolds. The reader is not spared a view on the tensions that persist in South Africa. Despite these observations, one of the book's main virtues is the optimism that shines through as the Parkers depart southwards for their third career, exchanging Mooi River's bitter winters for Emoyeni's stifling sub-tropical humidity. Just Now, Now Now provides us with a welcome but rare chance to see, and laugh at ourselves as others do, without spite or jealousy.

 

The intertwined threads of Brits abroad, emergent South Africa and the survival of the adventurous spirit of the middle-aged leaves the reader with a factual and uncluttered message. The entrepreneurial instinct can win through anywhere, but in Africa, it is best characterised by humility and co-operation in the post-Mandela world. 

 

Jim Parker now farms cane and geraniums in Emoyeni - 'as hot as Hades'. His first novel, The Corrupt Affair, was released in December 2007 by Just Done Productions. The Order of Batting, his third novel will be published later this year.

 

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