The Golden Notebook

The first of Anna’s notebooks is further divided into two sections, one having to do with financial considerations and the other a record of memories of her time spent in Africa, before and during the war. It begins with some notes on her meeting with a film producer, who wants to make a movie out of her well-received novel, Frontiers of War. She also writes a parody of her own novel, in the style she believes the film industry might appreciate, and a critical book review of her own work, which she assesses as having “an unoriginal theme” (60). Most of this material is recorded between 1951 and 1953.

From 1954, however, the notebook focuses on Anna’s experiences in Africa, with her cohort of like-minded socialists and communists. They have all joined the group for various reasons, primarily to agitate against the “colour bar” (what is now termed “apartheid”), but the intractable nature of the problems they confront challenges their idealism. Anna takes pains during this section to “try to put down the facts merely” (65), without lapsing into nostalgic sentiment. She discusses the development of socialism in general and remarks on the particular flaws within her own sub-group, including that there are no Black members.