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Jul 15, 2022
Pamela
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Disturbing short novel set in a dystopian South Africa which has been invaded by rebels from Mozambique who have joined with the black population (or coerced them) into uprising against the white ruling class. This was written before the actual breakdown of the apartheid system but is a powerful imagining of how the society could break down.
The liberal white Smales family - Maureen, her architect husband Bam, and their three children - have fled their home in a pick up truck (the ‘bakkie’) and h ...more
The liberal white Smales family - Maureen, her architect husband Bam, and their three children - have fled their home in a pick up truck (the ‘bakkie’) and h ...more
Not much happens after the initial flight: a lot of pettiness about belongings, observations of human bodies after hypersanitized city life is ripped away from the white family. I liked how the kids adapt to the rural lifestyle of July's village and become more strange to their parents. However, the writing is oblique and choppy, and it becomes tedious only getting the story from white points of view.
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Dec 25, 2008
Erika
marked it as to-read
Jul 01, 2012
Susan
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Dec 06, 2013
Lise Petrauskas
marked it as to-read
Dec 05, 2017
Kai Coates
marked it as to-read
Jun 23, 2025
Lauren
marked it as to-read
Jul 18, 2025
Yokk
marked it as to-read
