This is a superbly powerful story set in Nelson Mandela's new post apartheid South Africa, short listed for the 2004 Booker prize. A really gripping and in places disturbing read it is a no holds barred look at South Africa (SA) from the townships and from the ruling party workers point of view. The long struggle for freedom and the difficult attempts to reconcile the various groups in SA in a peaceful way with the incredibly brave Truth and Reconciliation committee figure highly in this highly charged novel.
Centring on a civil servant and his family, the man having been part of the ANC struggle against apartheid now he is out in the open his work during the "struggle" giving him a place as an advisor to ministers of the new government. But his past casts a long shadow - the dreadful suffering under apartheid, he was classed as coloured as opposed to black, his father Indian his mother white. Under the apartheid regime dreadful crimes against people were committed, rape was used to abuse and intimidate by the white authorities. Many years in the past his young wife was raped by a white security policeman and he was imprisoned. The years of struggle, the use of informers, of counter intelligence operatives like himself has taken a dreadful toll and now that SA is free he must come to terms with his abusers. His family, his son are victims too and each seek to find a place for themselves with each other and the new SA.
The shatteringly powerful dialogue sometimes sexually highly charged moves at a fast pace, yet remains brilliantly focussed and highly descriptive. Beautifully descriptive passages of South African life as led now lend real flavour to the narrative, the characters really come alive as they search for their identities either lost or new as their world changes. Without giving away the brilliant plot of sex, betrayal and love I can say that this book is brilliant addition to other South African writers I have read, JM Coetzee and Nadine Gordimer (the latter actually named in this novel!). It tells us about South Africa warts and all, the racial tension still apparent, and the search for new identity. Fantastically well written with plot twists and turns I was really gripped and even given its sometimes disturbing subject matter it was never a dull read - good from start to finish. Well worth a look indeed and as it was first published in 2001 in Cape Town it's published here in Paperback so no need to wait for it to be published in the cheaper form. Brilliant!
Centring on a civil servant and his family, the man having been part of the ANC struggle against apartheid now he is out in the open his work during the "struggle" giving him a place as an advisor to ministers of the new government. But his past casts a long shadow - the dreadful suffering under apartheid, he was classed as coloured as opposed to black, his father Indian his mother white. Under the apartheid regime dreadful crimes against people were committed, rape was used to abuse and intimidate by the white authorities. Many years in the past his young wife was raped by a white security policeman and he was imprisoned. The years of struggle, the use of informers, of counter intelligence operatives like himself has taken a dreadful toll and now that SA is free he must come to terms with his abusers. His family, his son are victims too and each seek to find a place for themselves with each other and the new SA.
The shatteringly powerful dialogue sometimes sexually highly charged moves at a fast pace, yet remains brilliantly focussed and highly descriptive. Beautifully descriptive passages of South African life as led now lend real flavour to the narrative, the characters really come alive as they search for their identities either lost or new as their world changes. Without giving away the brilliant plot of sex, betrayal and love I can say that this book is brilliant addition to other South African writers I have read, JM Coetzee and Nadine Gordimer (the latter actually named in this novel!). It tells us about South Africa warts and all, the racial tension still apparent, and the search for new identity. Fantastically well written with plot twists and turns I was really gripped and even given its sometimes disturbing subject matter it was never a dull read - good from start to finish. Well worth a look indeed and as it was first published in 2001 in Cape Town it's published here in Paperback so no need to wait for it to be published in the cheaper form. Brilliant!