A Ghost and His Gold – Character interview with Mosiko and a review

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Quote from A Ghost and His Gold

A Ghost and His Gold has been on tour again and I am extremely grateful to all the lovely hosts who have supported my tour. I was in two minds about whether I should share any of the posts to my blog as I don’t want to swamp my readers with details and information about this book, but I have decided to share some of the posts as they do reveal some interesting insights into the characters in this book and the circumstances of the war.

This post, hosted by talented author James J. Cudney who blogs at https://thisismytruthnow.com/, includes a character interview with Mosiko, one of the secondary characters. Mosiko is a native African and, even though this war was largely viewed as being between Britain and the South African Boers, it had a huge impact on the native African population living in the two Boer republics at the time. Their stories are, sadly, not documented and it was difficult to find reliable sources of information about the role played by native Africans in this war and their plight in the concentration camps. I did, however, manage to glean some reliable details which I wove into my story.

I was also fortunate enough to receive a lovely review of this book by James and this is included in his post.

Character Interview

  • What is your character’s name?
    • Mosiko – Mosiko is never referred to with a last name in the book.
  • Can you share some personality traits about Mosiko?
    • Mosiko is one of Pieter van Zyl’s trusted farm managers on his farm in Irene.
      • When it becomes obvious that war is inevitable, Pieter travels to join up with his brother and their commando in the region where they both grew up, and Pieter leaves Mosiko in charge of the farm and the security of this wife and three daughters. Pieter trusts Mosiko explicitly after his many years of service to the van Zyl family.
      • Mosiko had joined the van Zyl family when he was 10-years old and Pieter’s father, Hendrik, had found him hungry and abused, hiding in the veld from his abusive carers. Hendrik had offered the boy a home and he had become particularly attached to Pieter and accompanied him when he left to establish his own farm.
      • Pieter’s oldest daughter, Estelle, is also attached to Mosiko and regards him as her trusted caregiver. Pieter’s wife, Marta, also relies on Mosiko as is demonstrated by this paragraph from the book:
        • During the months when her father was away, Mosiko proved himself to be exceptionally devoted and Estelle was relieved that her mother had someone competent who she could rely on to help her. Mosiko had worked for her father his whole life and knew exactly what needed to be done. Stepping into the role of overseer, he supervised the work of his fellow labourers and ensured it was done properly.
  • Where does Mosiko live?
    • When we first meet Mosiko, he is living with Pieter’s family on the van Zyl farm in Irene. When the family flees the approaching Khakis [British] soldiers, Mosiko and his family accompany them to Pieter’s brother, Willem’s, farm. Mosiko knows his role is to look after Pieter’s family in his absence.

Continue reading here: https://thisismytruthnow.com/2021/05/04/blog-tour-a-ghost-and-his-gold-by-roberta-eaton-cheadle-w-review-giveaway-character-interview/

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Picture of a Boer officer and his agterryer (after rider). You can read more about the native African concentration camps here: https://samilhistory.com/2017/09/03/to-fully-reconcile-the-boer-war-is-to-fully-understand-the-black-concentration-camps/

Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

Published

31 thoughts on “A Ghost and His Gold – Character interview with Mosiko and a review”

    1. Hi Priscilla, I hope you are enjoying it. I did weave a lot of history into this book as my aim was to show how war damages societies and impacts heavily on civilians. I have been reading up on the USA’s participation in WW1 and it is so sad. A most terrible and destructive war. I wish humanity could learn from its past mistakes.

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      1. That’s interesting, Robbie. Ouija boards freak me out, but I love when they’re used in stories. I used one in book 2 of my Point Pleasant series, A Cold Tomorrow. I remember fiddling around with one with friends when I was a kid, but I wouldn’t have one in the house now!

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  4. I’ve almost finished A Ghost and His Gold. Very powerful, Robbie. The fate of so many during that terrible war… I have pictures in my head that will stay with me for a long, long time.

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    1. Hi Chris, thank you, I am so pleased you enjoyed this book. It was a bit of a labour of love for me as I wanted to share the history of South Africa with readers and to present the various viewpoints and events that shaped our history. This book was intended to be an analysis of the psychology of this war. I learned an awful lot while researching this book.

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        1. Thank you, Chris. I am so pleased that people are enjoying this book and the history of our wonderful country is being shared. I plan to write a trilogy that will include the Anglo Zulu war too. I love SA history and it is close to my heart.

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    1. Hi Darlene, I am very pleased with the good reception of this book by readers. It is a niche market as historical paranormal is not for everyone, but people who are interested do seem to be enjoying it and understanding the complexity of its themes which is wonderful for me.

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  9. Great post Robbie. I updated my post to include Estelle’s character post which I forgot when I originally put it together. Thanks for the link to the concentration camps, I have been doing more reading about this time. Your book really piqued my interest.

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    1. Hi Carla, it is a very tragic piece of South African history and it did huge damage to relationships between the various peoples of South Africa. I remember one school friend I had whose grandmother wouldn’t let me in her house because my mother was English.

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