Synopses & Reviews
Ruben Oliver's life is coming adrift from its moorings. He has been forced to take early retirement from his job as a librarian and adjust to 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. His best friend and neighbour, Johnny MacFarlane, has been brutally murdered. The only constants are his old family home in the suburbs of Cape Town, 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. The beautiful Tessa Butler comes out of the rain one night in response to an ad for a lodger. Ruben is captivated by her. She restores passion to his life, but brings with her a turbulent past and a complex love life as well as demons from the world outside his home.
About the Author
André Brink was born in South Africa in 1935. His novels have been translated into thirty languages. He has won South Africa's most important literary prize, the CNA Award, three times and has twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He has been awarded the Prix Médicis Etranger in France and the Premio Mondello in Italy. He is Professor of English at the University of Cape Town.