Mary Benson (campaigner) Mary Benson (campaigner) Mary Benson (8 December 1919 – 19 June 2000) was a South African civil rights campaigner and author. Born in 1919 in Pretoria, Benson served in the South African Women's Army during World War II. After the war, she was secretary to film director David Lean. Benson became acquainted with the author Alan Paton, and read his novel "Cry, the beloved country" (1948), whose main theme was racial discrimination in South Africa. This affected her greatly, and she became a campaigner for the rights of black people there. She worked with Michael Scott (who, in 1946, was
The Beloved (Faulkner novel) The Beloved (Faulkner novel) The Beloved (2012) is a novel by Australian author Annah Faulkner. It won the 2013 Nita Kibble Literary Award. Roberta (Bertie) Lightfoot moves from post-war Melbourne and Sydney in the 1950s to post-colonial frontier town, Port Moresby. One day she discovers she has polio and the novel follows her long road to recovery and the subsequent discovery of her gifts as a painter. "Readings" bookstore called the novel "Tender and witty, "The Beloved" is a moving debut novel which paints a vivid portrait of both the beauty and the burden of unconditional love." Mary Anne Elliott,