Brutal Legacy: A Memoir

When the battered face of Tracy Going, South Africa’s golden girl of broadcasting, was splashed across the media back in the late 1990s, the nation was shocked. Sensational headlines of a whirlwind love relationship turned horrendously violent threw the “perfect” life of the household star into disarray. In mesmerizing detail, Going takes us through the harrowing court process, her decline into depression, the immediate collapse of her career due to the highly public nature of her assault and the decades-long journey to undo the psychological damages in the search for safety and the reclaiming of self. The roots of violence form the backdrop of the book, tracing Going’s childhood on a plot in Brits, laced with the unpredictable violence of an alcoholic father who regularly terrorized the family with his fists of rage. Brilliantly penned, this highly skilled debut memoir is ultimately uplifting in the realization that healing is a lengthy and often arduous process and that self-forgiveness and acceptance is essential to fully embrace life.