Something on My Mind

Date: Thursday, 4 February 2010
Reviewed by: Phumeza Mgxashe

Something on My Mind... leaves readers with a lot to be mindful of.

On Thursday, 4 February 2010, the BWA Book Club held its first meeting for the year.  The biographer of Kate Jowell’s memoir, Sharon Sorour-Morris, titled Something on My Mind, graced the meeting with her presence.

Reading excerpts from the book, and pausing often to relay stories about Kate told to her by Kate’s friends, her own personal impressions and personal interviews with the Jowell family, one realizes the author has managed to write a book that is a frank and honest representation of Kate’s life.  Sorour-Morris deserves to be applauded for this achievement when one considers that the work was commissioned by the Jowell family.

Kate Jowell, formerly, Director of UCT’s Graduate School of Business, the first woman to hold such a position in South Africa, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at a young age of 59.  The book elegantly details the journey of this famed, prolific and ground-breaking academic and public thinker, known for her sharp mind and quirky sense of humour from the beginning to her current state.

Kate’s life is stolen from her by Alzheimer’s disease and this cruel thief robs her of what are normally key milestones in any family’s life: one of her daughter’s wedding and the births of her grandchildren.

Due to the subject matter discussed the mood amongst the Book Club members was somber and some relayed the stories of the suffering of loved one who’d succumbed to the disease.

The book is about Kate’s decline, it is also about achievement, family love, overcoming obstacles and devotion.

The author needs to be commended that she was able to tell the story from a myriad of sources that included colleagues, Kate’s daughters, her husband and the family domestic worker turned caregiver, and allows each a voice.  Through the book, they have been granted a unique opportunity, not often afforded many, of saying goodbye to a loved one during her last living years.

Something on My Mind retails at local bookshops.


Christine Paterson, Phumeza Mgxashe, Sharon Sorour Morris ( Author), Tess Rodrigues, Anneline Black, Junita Duncan