Children of the Mist

Children of the Mist
the lost tribe of South Africa
book by Scott Balson

Children of the Mist - S Balson (release date June 2007)

The pre-release presentation copies of "Children of the Mist" have now been printed. These were delivered to key curators and museums in South Africa in September this year. These twenty copies are the only copies being printed in hard copy form.

The 20 presentation copies have a bookmark with a 2/- Strachan and Co coin attached and engraved on the back - in lines of the story. The back and the engraving is not revealed here ... the first of many secrets and mysteries about this book.... The coin and the scarcity of this hard copy book will make this an extremely sought after item crossing numismatic and book collecting boundaries making its intrinsic value in excess of US$1,000.

These presentation copies were handed out during Scott's trip to South Africa in September 2006 - his trip seen at this link.

Feedback has been received from these carefully selected experts who have assisted in the historical correctness of this novel the book will be published for general circulation - probably in January 2007.

Buy Children of the Mist paperback Internet edition now online!

Here is the overview carried on the back cover (image below):

When Marie goes to stay on the family farm in the remote district of Matatiele in East Griqualand, shocking memories of her childhood flood back to her. She confesses an awful secret that has dogged her all her life to her fifteen-year-old granddaughter, Amie.

This tragic outcome, arising from the act of a good Samaritan, left a dark shadow over her life, and resulted in a passionate search for the true history of the Griqua people - the direct descendants of South Africa's first inhabitants, the Hottentots.

Her research reveals a forgotten tribe, the elusive pot of gold at the end of South Africa's Rainbow Nation, and an ugly side to the country's early history that has been covered up and sanitized by past historians.

Marie shares the exciting history of the Griquas with Amie, adding a new and refreshing insight into the lives of South Africa's first Voortrekkers.

The book closes dramatically with an unexpected twist whose secret is wrapped in a coin.

Children of the mist hold your heads up high,
For the blood that flows through your veins
Is the very foundation of this land, South Africa.

- Scott Balson.

**Comments by key institutions who have a presentation copy**
Children of the Mist is great and we are very grateful for what you have done. - Griqua National Council Children of the Mist is carefully researched allowing the writer to thread an accurate picture of the lives of the (Griqua) people. - Kokstad Advertiser Children of the Mist is the first attempt to write a popular history of the Griqua. Mr Balson has succeeded in writing a thoroughly readable and sympathetic book, which covers 300 years of history. - Milner Snell, Chair, Kokstad Museum Children of the Mist is highly readable and well researched. There is a space on every historian's bookshelf for this publication. - Hetta Hager, Curator Mary Moffat Museum, Griquatown Children of the Mist is a well timed contribution to the revisionism that is taking place in South African literature particularly in regard to the presentation of history, challenging the established wisdom about the foibles of indigenous people. - Mlongisi Zondi, Business Day Newspaper, Johannesburg


The back cover of the book	The inside front cover map	The powder horn opp map on left

Le Fleur's last stand opp map	The inside back cover map	The presentation page

**Copies to be presented to:**
Numbered	Presented to:
1	Scott Balson retained
2	Copy signed by people met during Scott's trip to S Africa
3	J Balson (Scott's mother)
9	Jeannie Wiseman
11	Milner Snell, Kokstad
12	Kokstad Museum
13	Griqua National Council, Plettenburg Bay
14	Allyn Jacobs, numismatist
15	Killie Campbell Library, Durban
16	Mark Radley, numismatist/collector
17	Iziko Social History Collections, Cape Town
18	Mary Moffat Museum, Griqua Town
19	Michaelhouse Library, Balgowan
20	Digby Lake, Mentor

The Balson Holdings Family Trust will keep several of these hard copy books in their unique library.