By Ayesha Kajee for the Sunday Times
Now Following You
Fiona Snyckers (Modjaji Books)
*****
A certain age demographic on social media “really has no boundaries and is completely open about even the most intimate details”, declares Fiona Snyckers. Phenomena such as sex-blogging and mommy-blogging, combined with the advent of Facebook, inspired Snyckers to create aspiring novelist Jamie Burchill, whose strategy is to get published via blogging.
However, her online sharing attracts an admirer who evolves from trolling to physical stalking. Naturally, Jamie blogs about her stalker, which increases her followers and even brings in an offer from a publisher. The heightened attention also causes the stalker to escalate into violence.
Dilemma: should Jamie (or anyone) have to censor her digital sharing in order to stay safe?
Snyckers argues that in the digital space attempts to circumscribe women’s behaviour are still widespread. She points to the highly personal insults against outspoken female commentators in various online media and also notes that Twitter “has become a more hostile space than it used to be”.
Although she admires Jamie’s decision to continue as normal, Snyckers says she would probably be less courageous in a similar situation because the threat can be extended to others. Indeed, Jamie’s business partner Pumla gets drawn into the stalker’s net, adding an interesting twist to the “frenemy” relationship between the two women.
“I’m tired of the rainbow-nation ideal of hunky-dory cross-cultural friendships,” says Snyckers, who deliberately highlights the inevitable attrition between two very different personalities hailing from divergent milieus.
Race and culture also surface around the adoption of a black child when Tom, Jamie’s neighbour, adopts Ben. Tom’s relationship with Ben explodes the myth that the challenges faced by cross-racial adoptions can “be incinerated by the power of love so that all the problems vanish in a puff of smoke”. Snyckers credits the writing of poet Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, among others, for sensitising her to the landmines in a cross-cultural upbringing.
Conveniently, the scrumptious Tom is also a criminologist who assists Jamie to identify the stalker and deal with the violent incidents. The stalker, though a key character, is a nebulous entity and a niggling unknown even at the novel’s conclusion. Snyckers believes that such threats constantly haunt the digital space and are constantly reinventing themselves in an unending “game of whack-a-mole”. Scary thought. You never know who might now be following you.
Follow Ayesha Kajee on Twitter @ayeshakajee
Book details
- Now Following You by Fiona Snyckers
Book homepage
EAN: 9781928215066
Find this book with BOOK Finder!