Review:
A significant work of post-colonial literature ... and a gripping read. A wondrous thing indeed. -- The Montreal Gazette
A splendid novel . . . what fiction should be: instructive, moving, enthralling -- Margaret Forster
An admirable offering ... finely rendered, vital and moving. -- The National Post
Brilliant on the atmosphere of a particular part of Africa, and with much tender psychological insight into states of mind -- U A Fanthorpe, Ondaatje Prize judge 2005
DeSoto writes lyrically about the African countryside, and he delicately reveals the nuances of interracial sexual attraction. -- The New York Times
Depicts the South African countryside so vividly you can almost smell it -- John Lanchester, Ondaatje Prize judge 2005
One of the 22 longlisted titles announced 26 August -- Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2004
One of the shortlist of six, announced 21 April 2005 -- Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize 2005
Poignantly brings alive the profound affection and the conflict between an Afrikaaner farmer's wife and her black servant -- Victoria Glendinning, Ondaatje Prize judge 2005
...has a contemporary relevance, and yet touches a universal chord . . .
the plot moves towards [a] devastating conclusion. -- Sainsbury's Magazine, June 2004
About the Author:
Lewis DeSoto was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, and emigrated with his family to Canada in the 1960s. A graduate of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia, he has exhibited in galleries across Canada. His writing has been published in numerous literary journals, and he was awarded the Books in Canada/Writers' Trust Short Prose Award. A past editor of The Literary Review of Canada, Lewis DeSoto lives with his wife, the Swedish artist Gunilla Josephson, in Toronto and Normandy, France. This is his first novel.
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