Novel tells untold facts of Zephany Nurse kidnapping

TALI FEINBERG

The real person behind the narrative, now revealed to be Miché Solomon, told her story to author Joanne Jowell in a book simply titled Zephany, which was released over the past week.

Zephany Nurse was born on 28 April 1997, and was abducted from Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town when she was two days old. Seventeen years later, the Nurses’ second daughter, Cassidy, started a new school where Zephany coincidentally was also in attendance under the name Miché Solomon.

They became friends, and when the Nurse family became aware of the resemblance between the two, the police began investigating. After Zephany’s parents couldn’t provide proof of her birth, DNA tests were conducted. The results were conclusive that Zephany was the Nurses’ child.

“Miché is instantly likeable, with a warm smile and a lovely way about her. But, beneath that light-heartedness is pure steel,” says Jowell. “I was instantly blown away by her. I was expecting a shy and uncertain girl, but instead I found a self-assured and confident young woman.”

After she signed on as the author a year ago, the two were introduced to each other by the publisher, and then left to build a relationship and rapport. “At first she seemed to hold her cards close to her chest, which is completely understandable. It took time for her to warm to me and relax,” recalls the author.

But they quickly built up a bond that led to many interviews and searches for the best chocolate cake in Cape Town – something Miché was craving as she was six months pregnant with her second child, at the time (her son has since been born).

The fact that the kidnapped child is now a mother herself – and a single one at that – is a big part of the book, says Jowell. She is raising two children without the support of the woman she sees as her mother, Lavona Solomon, who is serving ten years in prison for the kidnapping. She says Miché lives with the man she sees as her father, Michael Solomon, who is “the number one person in her life”.

The fact that Miché was pregnant added time pressure to the writing of the manuscript, which was challenging for Jowell. “I don’t like to rush the relationship-forming aspect of writing a book, as without rapport and trust between me and the subject, there is no story.”

But the two quickly formed a connection. “Only one side of this story has ever been told. When meeting and hearing Miché’s side, I felt an instant swell of protectiveness of her and her story,” says Jowell.

Unfortunately the author wasn’t able to talk to the Nurse family, who chose not to be part of the book. She says that although she wishes they had more of a voice in this book, she understands their reluctance. The story is therefore very much Miché perspective, going back to her earliest memories and childhood, and then covering the trial and her life since. It also goes into her non-biological mother’s history, and court plea. There are also interviews with experts in the case, which Jowell found meaningful and fascinating.

In hindsight, Jowell has been preparing to write this story her entire career. With five other books under her belt, including four biographies about family dynamics, young adulthood, and South African society, writing Zephany was in her destiny.

Jowell says she was approached by nb Publishers, to write the book. “I had been approached to write another project of a political nature that wasn’t really up my alley, so when I got this call, my first thought was ‘How quickly can I say yes?!’ The story intrigued, horrified, and fascinated me, and it was a chance to hear the other side.”

Author and subject have stayed in touch, and will officially launch the book together at the Open Book Festival in September. Depending on how Solomon finds being in the spotlight, they may do more launches together.

“It’s very important for her to get the message out that this is a story of identity, hope, and forgiveness,” says Jowell. In addition, Miché is trying to get her life back on track, and is hoping to study. “I’m rooting for her to re-establish the important relationships in her life, and to witness her blossoming in confidence and trust of others.”

Jowell says the book is relevant for two reasons: first, it allows Miché to tell her story in her own words, in her own name, therefore allowing her to define her place in the world, which has been extremely important for the healing process.

Second, the book explores the complexities, details, and minutiae of the case that weren’t covered in the media. “Everyone thinks they know her, but no one really does. We explore how it all unfolded. The specifics [of the case] are different to – and even more interesting –  the way the media portrayed them. Lavona Solomon’s back-story is also largely revealed. Remember, she was also not allowed to be identified in the media until now.”

While the book was being written, Miché and her lawyers worked on lifting the identity protection court order, granted when the story broke and she was still a minor, so that her name could be publicised. Jowell reflects that without that law in place, Miché would never have been able to deal with the trauma of discovering that her entire life had been a lie. But, now she is ready to step onto the world stage as herself, a complex mixture of two individuals: Zephany Nurse and Miché Solomon. Zephany was chosen as the book’s title as a symbol of everything she has been through, and what she has learnt to accept.

Miché’s relationship with her biological parents remains complicated and painful, although she is quite close to her biological siblings, especially Cassidy, the sister that started it all.

Jowell wonders how the Jewish community would respond to such a traumatic event.

“In times of stress, our community really rallies to protect those going through trauma. I’m not sure anyone in the Zephany Nurse story had that kind of support, even when she went missing as a baby,” says Jowell. “In the Jewish community we are blessed to have solidarity, and the strength it gives is immeasurable. We can’t take it for granted.”