Author: Andre Brink
Genre: Literary
Publisher: Landmark
Published: 2007
Pages: 144
Rating - 4 out of 10
In 15th Century southern Africa, a young white woman is left stranded on the shores of Cape Good Hope and found by a tribal chief, who immediately falls in love with her.
And that's basically all that happens.
I could see myself trying out another of Brink's novels in the future, as I did enjoy his sparse, earthy writing style. But that is certainly where any enjoyment of this particular book ended.
I couldn't bring myself to feel any empathy for the main character, T'kama. Half the book is based simply on him trying to get the woman, Khois, to sleep with him. As soon as he first sees her lying naked on the beach, he sees her as his possession. He even has the gall to name her within the first five minutes of their meeting, as if she could not possibly have had a name or an identity before he came along. And the name he gives her translates into "woman," "khois." I would find it degrading enough to name a pet "Dog" or "Cat," but to name a baby "baby" or a child "female?"
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