André Brink Books

Based on the lives of Elisabeth Larsson and Adam Mantoor

In this magical novel that re-imagines stories from nine generations of South African women, ”histories, half-truths, myths, and fables weave themselves around an exile’s return to a nation on the brink of political transformation” (Boston Sunday Globe).

Two men, both with South African roots, but with opposing political allegiances, take a conscious decision to use violence for their political ends. An act of terror triggers a remorseless pursuit that spans magnificent landscapes and squalid townships and leads into the violent past of Africa.

The novel has become a landmark in South African literature about the seventies period of unrest and death in detention. The main character is an ordinary man who tries to get at the truth behind the death of a black man. He is not motivated by political issues but by a sense of moral outrage. When he realises his life might be in danger, he entrusts all the documents of his investigation to an old friend.

Winter in South Africa - a time of searing drought, angry stirrings in Soweto, and the shadow of the Angolan conflict cast across the scorched bush. Martin Mynhardt, a wealthy Afrikaner, plans a weekend at his old family farm. But his visit coincides with a time of crisis in his personal life. In a few days, the security of a lifetime is destroyed and, with only the uncertain values of his past to guide him, Mynhardt is left to face the wreckage of his future.

First edition ex-library hardcover with jacket in protective film covering. Upper leading corners and spine ends are slightly worn on jacket and hardcover. Stained and grubby page block, particularly severe on foot, but only visible on BEP and lower edge of FEP, which also has a stamp. No other signs of library markings; pages are clean and sound and text remains clear throughout. TS

A reporter in South Africa discovers a lost valley whose inhabitants continue to practice apartheid. They are the descendants of an 1880s fundamentalist Christian sect and they have managed to maintain their isolation by murdering visitors. A satire on Afrikaner culture by the author of A Dry White Season.

"On the surface "On the Contrary is a picaresque historical novel, in which 18th century adventurer Estienne Barbier graduates from seducing French wives to South African widows via a long and bruising association with the Dutch East India Company. Underneath [it] is about today's South Africa and the dilemmas facing people challenging the status quo." - "Sunday Telegraph

As a small child in a wintry Bremen, Hanna dreams about the other side of silence, the place where the wind comes from and palm trees wave in the sun. schovat popis

Ruben Oliver's life is coming adrift from its moorings. He has been obliged to take early retirement from his job as a librarian due to 'rationalisation' and the new political realities of South Africa. His wife has died. One of his sons has settled in Australia, the other is about to emigrate to Canada while trying to persuade Ruben that it is too dangerous to remain. The only constants are his old family home, haunted by the ghost of a young slave woman; and his housekeeper, Magrieta, with whom he has a shared history that goes back more than half his life.When Tessa Butler comes out of the rain one night in response to an advertisement for a lodger, Ruben is captivated by her. She restores passion to his life, but brings with her a turbulent past.