The Yardstick (Dromedaris Books Stories from South Africa)

A great part of the story is played out among the dunes of the Kalahari Desert in ‘The Yardstick’, Volume three of the enthralling Beauclaire Saga, in the Stories from South Africa series, but we also briefly revisit New York, Louisiana, Nelspruit, Johannesburg and Bethlehem, as the history of the Ashton family and their Nelspruit citrus farm continues. Now we find a disillusioned Benjamin Ashton—about to become a grandfather—forced to consider relocating the South African members of his family, which could well bring to an end what has been for them a blessedly happy era on their Lowveld citrus farmAt the same time, the integrity of Ben’s altruistic son, a physician, is severely tested as Jordan is unwillingly drawn into the sordid affairs of Tristan Connaught, the womanizing partner in their upscale practice near Johannesburg. Unfortunately Tristan is none other than the son of Father Clifford Connaught of Bethlehem in the Free State, who played such a important role in the lives of both Ben Ashton and his brother, Jamie; and, together with them, we are re-introduced to many of the well-loved characters from ‘When you know that you know, that you know! or The redemption of Benjamin Ashton’.Handsome, brilliant and charming, young Doctor Connaught is much sought after, chiefly by bored, hypochondriac, society women! Having grown up in Louisiana—among homeless children, in a shelter financed by Amy-Lee Ashton, and of which his parents are the directors—Tristan is proud, upon his return to the country of his birth, to count the rich and famous among his patients. When, during a visit to his great-uncle, Doctor Hugo Connaught, in a remote and arid village situated in the Kalahari Desert, he persuades Doctor Hugo to allow him to respond to a call from an eccentric, hermit professor who has chosen to live in isolation with his two, reputedly beautiful young daughters, he soon finds himself in a unique situation which is both intriguing and challenging Publisher’s review Read more