Cape Fever by Nadia Davids
Summary of Cape Fever by Nadia Davids Introduction and the Setting of Heron Place The narrative of Cape Fever opens on March 12, 1920, in the Cape Southern Cross Colony (modern-day Cape Town). The protagonist, Soraya, is a nineteen-year-old woman from the Quarter a predominantly Muslim neighborhood who seeks employment at 23 Heron Place. Her employer, Mrs. Alice Hattingh, lives in a grand, gabled house that looks out over the harbor, an address typically reserved for “doctors and ambassadors”. However, Soraya immediately notices that the house is “mostly vacant” and that Mrs. Hattingh is not as wealthy as the address suggests; paintings have clearly been sold off, leaving “precise and permanent shadows” on the maroon wallpaper. Soraya is hired as a combined cleaner and cook. During the interview, she pretends to be illiterate, allowing Mrs. Hattingh to believe she has “industrialized and modest” qualities. Mrs. Hattingh reveals that the position is for a live-in maid, a condition she springs on Soraya late in the interview. Soraya reluctantly accepts, agreeing to stay at the house every night and return home only once every two weeks. This arrangement sets the stage for a domestic drama defined by surveillance, loneliness, and the manipulation …