A charming historic tale
Novelette based on true love story
A RETIRED Port Elizabeth accountant has put pen to paper and turned his interest in a small slice of Eastern Cape history into a novelette, Ann of Fort Beaufort.
Mill Park resident Andre Jensen has written before on figures in this region’s history, bringing out a book on governor George Grey in collaboration with its original author.
“I did fiddle a bit with writing before,” he said of the 2010 biography.
This novel, which has illustrations by retired newspaper cartoonist Tony Grogan, is based on the true story of John Marvel and his sweetheart Ann dating back to the 19th century, shortly after the arrival of the 1820 Settlers in the Eastern Cape.
Jensen said he had taken the “germ of the idea” from a book, Assegai over the Hills, by F C Metrowich, in which there is a chapter on “Ann” who disguised herself as a boy to join the merchant navy, and John Marvell, who had disappeared after falling in love with her.
It’s a charming story and – no spoilers – Jensen has embroidered the facts with a whimsical fictional overlay.
Before setting off on a trip last week to Australia (Jensen lived there for several years and still has family there), he made sure that Fogarty’s Bookshop in Walmer Park had copies of the new release, which is self-published.
With children and grandchildren on both continents, Jensen spends a fair chunk of time travelling and it was while he was on the Queen Mary, sailing back from Australia, that he started to write Ann of Fort Beaufort
“I always loved the story by Metrowich from the Cory Library archives and although it is too short, it is such a nice skeleton for a story.”