South African badlands

摘要

Two of the most interesting novels to have emerged from South Africa recently are both set in mythical badlands close to the nation's borders, where life is a prison, where new beginnings are always false dawns, and where every man and woman is destined to meet a bad end. "A Blade of Grass" is a first novel by a South African artist who has emigrated to Canada. It appeared on this year's Man Booker prize longlist. Marit Laurens, a white farmer's wife, tries to impose some normality on her life after her young husband is blown up by a road mine. Torn between her harsh Afrikaner neighbours and the implacable black workers living on her farm, Marit is by turns frightened and confused. She turns to the only person who can offer her friendship, her black maid, Tembi.