Much has happened since 2004 when Rex and Kirstie first made this website: reaction to Kites, the birth of Anna, the making of Bluestocking and the piecing together of Layered Life.
In August Rex came to visit and remodel this website, making it possible for me to add and alter as time goes on.
Thanks to Rex and Kirstie for helping and encouraging me in this way.
Therese Benadé, author of Kites of Good Fortune, writes about her heritage and upbringing in South Africa and her travels and living experiences on five continents. A Canadian citizen, she lives in Ipswich, Massachusetts with her husband, Jim Armstrong. Her two adult children are Rex and Kirstie van der Spuy. Read more...
A story about the lives of the author’s ancestors at the Cape of Good hope in the 17th and 18th centuries. Published 2004.
The Afrikaans translation of Kites of Good Fortune.
Set in South Africa between 1880 and 1927, the book explores the intellectual and moral influences on South African women of the ‘head, heart and hand’ education brought by American teachers from Mount Holyoke College.
Stories from my life touching on my childhood, my travels and teaching career, on being an immigrant, on learning languages and unlearning racism.