Gladys Thomas was born in Salt River, Cape Town, in 1935. She has published poems and stories in South Africa and internationally, using them as a way of raising awareness and fighting against Apartheid. In 2007 she was awarded a National Order of Ikhamanga in Bronze for her work.

‘One Last Look at Paradise Road’ tells the story of Miriam, a domestic worker in Cape Town, and her family. The United Democratic Front (UDF) organised a march demanding the release of Nelson Mandela from Pollsmoor prison on the 28th of August, 1985. Despite it being an act of peaceful resistance, the police reacted with full force on the day of the march and for three days afterwards, on the Cape Flats. 28 people were killed.

Thomas explores how this event affected Miriam and her family – Amos, her husband, and her two boys, Steve and Fassie. Miriam’s two sons embody the growing fearlessness of anti-Apartheid struggle during the 1980s. Thomas also shows her readers the strain put on black family life by economic inequality, racism and police oppression. Importantly, this story reveals how hard life was for black women. They had to work and take care of their families, as well as suffer under the racist laws of the Apartheid regime. Despite this, Thomas’ story finds great hope in the bravery of anti-Apartheid protesters and the unity of Miriam’s family.