Stuart Cloete — Historical Novelist
Novelist & Author — 1897–1976

Stuart Cloete

Stuart Cloete was a best-selling South African author who breathed life into the history of the 'Boers', now known as Afrikaners, who came from Dutch, German and French Huguenot settlers and arrived in the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th Century.

He is best known for his trilogy of historical fiction novels that began with Turning Wheels (1937). It followed the Afrikaners' flight from British colonial rule in the extraordinary Great Trek.

"The novel scandalised the authorities with its portrayal of love across colour lines."
Cloete was born in France in 1897 to a Scottish mother and a South African father. He was educated in England and settled in Hermanus in the Cape. His prolific writing reflected his extraordinary life across continents.