Unforgiven: Face to Face with My Father's Killer

by Liz McGregor

Overview

A searing, intimate memoir tracing the author's attempt to find out the truth about her father's murder.

Robin McGregor, an older man who has recently moved into a small town outside Cape Town, is brutally murdered in his home. Cecil Thomas is convicted for the crime, but his trial leaves more questions than answers. As much as his daughter Liz McGregor tries to move beyond her grief - she finds new work, she even discovers love - she still wants answers. What drove Thomas to torture and kill a complete stranger?

The author meets the murderer's family and discovers that he comes from a loving, comfortable home. He is educated and skilled, there is no apparent reason for his descent into delinquency. After protracted obstruction from the prison authorities, she finally gets to confront him but not without putting herself in danger. She finds answers, but not the answers she is looking for.

Unforgiven tells a story seldom told: what happens to a family when one of their own is murdered? In a country where, year upon year, tens of thousands of people lose a loved one to violence. Where restorative justice is preached but not practiced. Where prisons are universities of crime. What would it take to achieve redemption? For the victim, the perpetrator and the country?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781776192137
Publisher:	Icon Books, Ltd. UK
Publication date:	09/13/2022
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

LIZ MCGREGOR has written and edited several books including Load-shedding, At Risk, Touch Pause Engage, the Springbok Factory and Khabzela. She has worked as a journalist in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Seoul and London, including several years as deputy editor of the op-ed section of The Guardian. She currently lives in Cape Town and London.

Table of Contents

Prologue 9

1 The murder 13

2 The trial 24

3 In the cane fields 45

4 The verdict 54

5 Bastard fate strikes again 59

6 Weaving it all together 73

7 Alexander and Nongoloza 83

8 Wouldn't hurt a fly 104

9 When the earth shook 116

10 'The batons slip out of your hands when they are covered in blood' 134

11 Can Liz stop? 157

12 'I have traded my shackles for a glorious song' 161

13 Quartalehouse in the Cape 174

14 Meeting at Martins 191

15 Martins, Take 2 201

16 Martins, Take 3 213

17 Preparation 221

18 Voorberg 227

19 The meeting 234

20 What I've learnt 245

Epilogue 253

Acknowledgements 259

Glossary 261

References 263