Gien, Pamela. The Syringa Tree.(Brief article)(Book review)

Glen, Pamela. The Syringa Tree. Random. Jul. 2006. c.320p. ISBN 0-375-50755-8 [ISBN 978-0-375-50755-7]. $24.95. F Six-year-old Lizzie Grace sits in the syringa tree in her South African backyard whenever she's troubled. From there, she watches her Afrikaner neighbors and the black workers her part-Jewish family employs. Although her parents--an always-busy doctor father and a depressed mother--have tried to insulate themselves and their staff, it is impossible to shield Lizzie from the racism that permeates daily life. Indeed, as the meaning of apartheid unfolds, Lizzie struggles to understand racial laws that force her nanny to carry work papers and hide from the police. …