It is 1963. South Africa is in crisis and the white state is under siege. On 19 August the dreaded Security Police swoop on Griggs Bookstore in downtown Durban and arrest Eleanor, the daughter of the manageress. They threaten to 'break her or hang her' if she does not lead them to her lover, 'Red' Ronnie Kasrils, who is wanted on suspicion of involvement in recent acts of sabotage. This is the remarkable story of a young woman's courage and daring at a time of increasing repression in apartheid South Africa, told here for the first time by Eleanor's husband, Ronnie Kasrils.