Description
The novel tells the story of Janet, a white South African woman who must support her Afrikaner husband Hektor-Jan as he begins work as a plain-clothes policeman and specialist interrogator in apartheid South Africa. Hektor-Jan is close to a bloody drama that is about to unfold, and Janet's world tightens as her emotional fragility becomes increasingly apparent. Next door, the novel's antagonist, Doug, is up to no good. As the cracks in Janet's world widen, she must look to her children and friends for support. Christopher Radmann's novel is a taut and imaginative story about apartheid South Africa, full of niggling symbolism, imperfectly concealed secrets and fractured lives.
Gentle but highly strung, Janet must support her Afrikaner husband in his new job as a plain-clothes policeman and specialist interrogator. Hektor-Jan heads off to work on New Year's Day, aware that he is unbearably close to a bloody drama about to unfold. As Janet's world tightens and threatens to fracture, she must look to her children and cling to the support of Alice, her black maid, and Solomon, her ever-faithful gardener. All too conscious of her own emotional fragility, Janet watches her mother slip into the folds of 'Old Timers' disease. And next door, the lurking, unfathomable Doug is up to no good. As the crack in the swimming pool widens, can Janet bridge the gaps that threaten them all? Written with tenderness and disquieting power, Christopher Radmann exposes a brutal centre that cannot hold - and reveals how in apartheid South Africa, things must crack and fall apart.
Review:
'A taut and imaginative novel about apartheid-era South Africa, full of niggling symbolism, imperfectly concealed secrets and fractured lives.' -- DJ Taylor 'Compelling... Radmann's prose is stark, concise and harrowing... a worthy read exploring the effects of injustice entrenched in society's familial roots' Curious Animal 'A feat of skilful empathic writing... give[s] us the certainty that Radmann is capable of writing a truly psychological thriller' Eurocrime
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