8vo. Pp. [vi], 311. Pictorial wraps. Glossary.
André Brink's fourteenth novel. Having been forced to take early retirement from his job as a librarian due to 'rationalisation,' a widower is captivated by a woman with a turbulent past who answers his ad for a lodger.
A three-time recipient of South Africa's prestigious CNA Award, and twice short-listed for the Booker Prize, the author holds the dubious distinction of having written the first book in Afrikaans to be banned under apartheid, published abroad in 1973 as Looking on Darkness. His novels have been translated into thirty languages. "[D]elivers with a wallop on all levels... a grabber that pricks the conscience and challenges old notions of social justice." –Betsy Kline, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette