Dinah and Lisa are growing up in 1950s South Africa, where racial laws are tightening. They are two little girls from a liberal family - big sister Lisa is strong and sensible, while Dinah is weedy and arty. At school, the sadistic Mrs Vaughan-Jones provides instruction in mental arithmetic and racial prejudice. And then there's the puzzle of lunch break. 'Would you rather have a native girl or a koelie to make your sandwiches?' a classmate asks. But Dinah doesn't know, because it's her dad who makes them. As the repressive shadow of apartheid closes in, Dinah journeys through childhood and adolescence and the minefields of boys and university in this vibrant and irresistible novel.