Valerie Whiteson博士專長英語教學，編寫過十一本英語教科書。在「金田旅館」中，她回憶在南非的童年。

  我搬離南非有個原因就是當我叫兒子收拾地上的玩具，他以四歲小孩的智慧回答我說：「我不必撿，因為我的手不是棕色的！」我自己四歲時也住在南非，家裡經營旅館，旅館的印度侍者有一頭濕潤閃亮的黑髮，以及光滑發亮的棕色皮膚，瀟灑極了。他們身上有一股與眾不同的味道，我現在才知道原來是咖哩味。他們說的話我聽不懂而說的英語腔調又像在唱歌，常常被嘲笑。
  The waiters were all Indians and I thought they were very handsome men. They had shiny, wet-looking black hair and smooth brown polished skins. They also had a different smell from other people I knew. As far as I can tell now, it must have been curry. They spoke a different language, too, which I couldn't understand. People used to make fun of their sing-song accents in English.

  照顧我的褓姆Flora是非洲人，她幫我洗澡、穿衣服，帶我去散步，就像個媽媽很有耐心，可是爸媽卻禁止我去她的住處。僕人都住在旅館後面的矮木屋，有一天我偷偷地進去，裡面空空的水泥地，錫罐頭上架著鐵床，漿過的白色床單，枕頭罩繡著紅橙黃色的花鳥和蝴蝶，我覺得沒什麼好害怕，於是我常常去找褓姆。我最喜歡在用餐時間去，雖然他們天天吃的都一樣，但那些食物讓我一想到就流口水。將粗糙的玉米用水煮成濃稠的粥，用手抓一把捏成塊狀，再沾些肉汁，用手直接拿著吃，那種美味至今仍讓我難以忘懷。
  My best time to visit was when the servants were going to eat. There was nothing I liked better than their food. Just thinking about it":makes the water to run in my mouth" as one of nannies used to say. They always ate exactly the same food every day. First they would cook unrefined corn meal in water till it was so thick that you could dip your fingers in the pot, then take some out and roll it into a lump. They called it stywe mealie pap which is Afrikaans for "thick cornmeal porridge." The pap is dipped into a meaty gravy and eaten with your fingers. It was delicious and to this day I long for it.

  我們圍著鐵鍋蹲著吃，不用在乎餐桌禮儀，我聽他們聊天卻完全聽不懂，但是幼小天真無邪的我卻感覺很快樂，可惜的是這樣的幸福卻無法長久。爸爸來僕人的住處找整理花園的男孩，看到我蹲著和僕人一起吃飯，嚇壞了。
  他抱起我，我一邊尖叫，爸爸說我再到僕人這裡來的話，他一定會打我。我不懂是為什麼，但是爸爸當年教我白人和有色人種不同，這種歧視，我兒子竟然也學到了。
  Nobody said anything about table manners. Squatting in the circle listening to them chatting away in a language I could not understand, I was innocently happy. Unfortunately my happiness didn't last long. My father came looking for the garden boy. When he saw me squatting there with the servants, he was horrified. He picked me up and carried me away screaming. He promised to spank me if he ever caught me eating with the servants again. I didn't understand, but I had learned the same lesson my son was to learn.