Peter Abrahams was born in Vrededorp, near Johannesburg, in 1919. His Ethiopian father worked in the gold mines; his mother was the daughter of a black African father and white French mother, classifying Abrahams as 'coloured'. After his father's death, he had an impoverished childhood, selling firewood and working for a tinsmith, before winning a scholarship to school.

In 1939, Abrahams left South Africa for European exile, writing for the Communist Daily Worker, befriending political activists and organising the Fifth Pan-African Congress. His first book was published in 1942, followed by ten volumes of trailblazing fiction and autobiography exposing racial injustice. He settled in Jamaica in 1956 - where he lived until his death aged 97 - where he continued writing and broadcasting radio commentaries; he was married twice, both to white Englishwomen, and had three children.