Two Feet

The Indian doctor from Calcutta would use his stethoscope and listen to my father's chest. "Breathe in, breathe out," he would say. "And again, please." Amplified in his ears, the doctor from Calcutta would hear the gurgling and dying of the haggis. He would close his eyes to this sound as he listened and he would imagine himself driving on the long road to the city with the Bollywood starlet sitting beside him in his American car. Under the vast African sky, a young boy is forced to come to terms with a whole new reality. Abandoned by his father, his new playground is the open plains, and his new family, a deeply-rooted local community with some seemingly unorthodox ways-among them, Swazi warrior Mabuza, and stern, religious Afrikaner Meneer Gerber.

But Mark soon finds that this unconventional upbringing might be exactly what he needs to fill the emptiness created by his life-altering loss. While he imagines his father fighting for his life in a distant hospital, the boy learns to find solace and hope through the wisdom and traditions of his new community-including important lessons about life, overcoming obstacles, and how to walk with bare feet.

This inspirational memoir documents the author's unique adolescence spent in 1960s South Africa, and his struggle to move toward a brighter future after the abrupt disappearance of his father. With equal parts insight, emotion, and humor, "Two Feet" takes a candid look at the realities of family life, while evoking the adventure and curiosity of childhood.