One Hand Washes the Other

Book excerpt: When Thandi Dladla undertakes to coach a young soccer team in a rural school in South Africa she little realizes how it will change her life. When levelling the terrain to make a field she discovers two skeletons which reveal how ninety percent of people became right-handed. This leads Thandi on a journey of discovery which helps her not only to coach her team to success but also to find the murderer of her father, a university professor who fought the Apartheid regime. Because of an obstructive police investigation her brother decides to take the law into his own hands and revenge the killing of his father. As she unveils the clues to the identity of the murderers she learns about the involvement of the State Security Council, a sinister Apartheid body accountable to none that planned and executed the deaths of countless black activists. She also discovers the origins of handedness, the role of the left and right brain in human conduct and the genesis of evil in the world. Her coaching methods in soccer, including encouraging every player to become equal footed, challenge many existing practices and she discovers how to teach her team and students to surpass their previous achievements. Her struggle with the Catholic headmaster explores the influence of religion in society and its juxtaposition with science and witchcraft. In a thrilling series of twists the denouement reveals the dark underbelly of South African society.