Red Dust

Gillian Slovo has a record of producing work based on contemporary issues and here we have a novel based on the workings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in post-apartheid South Africa. It's a decent piece of work illustrating how big politics affects individuals and their lives. But the characters are sketchy and uninvolving. The ending is a little too contrived in order to achieve parity between the individuals and communities confronting each other. It gives an outsider some idea of life in modern South Africa but I'm not sure how it would be viewed in that country. Possibly a bit too simplistic.

This was a tremendously compelling book which I could not put down. The characters were very complex and well developed -- dark and good sides were convincing shown and really reflected the realities of life in apartheid South Africa. The weakest character was probably the main character, but this did not detract from the story or the general strength of the author's character development. An excellent book about an absorbing and complex social experiment that could only have played out this way in South Africa.

Gritty Aussie drama. A good mystery and love story in which you can almost feel the red grit on your hands as you read. A really good insight into life in the outback of Australia.

Truth and lies, and the uncertainties that lie in between - a novel about the relationship between aggressor and victim, between torturer and tortured. This book is a powerful drama about life in post-apartheid South Africa, a modern morality tale.

Sarah receives a phonecall in New York from her mentor Ben, a call that will bring her back the dorpie in South Africa that she left. The Truth Commission has arrived in town and the school Headmaster would like to use it to find out what happened to his son, to finally have a body to bury.

The New South Africa still trying to come to terms with its past, the victims and the perpetrators are caught up by a connection that none can break.

Truth commission in South Africa. Dirk, Pieter, Sarah, Alex

Un bon "policier" sur les périodes de transitions, et principalement l'incroyable transition imparfaite mais réussie qu'a connu l'Afrique du Sud