A Dry White Season by Andre Brink

Brink weaves a tale in such an interesting way, revealing the conclusion from the start, but his skill almost makes the reader forget what’s destined to happen.

Deciding to help his black gardner find his son who has disappeared after being arrested, a white schoolteacher unwittingly enters into a world he has no concept of. His actions have tragic consequences and his well meaning intentions lead to dire results.

Ben DuToit is an apolitical middle class married white man teaching in South Africa. His naivete and belief in the justice system is sorely tested when he continually runs up against a system built to suppress its black citizens with impunity.

Melanie Bruwer is a local reporter who has seen the ugly underbelly of society and joins Ben’s crusade. Her experience and his perseverance seem a sure thing. Their partnership leads to romance and they learn their intimacy has not been as private as they intended.

The colorful Stanley Makhaya is Ben’s polar opposite; cynical and cagey. All the while, however, insisting Ben is wasting his time going up against the Special Branch, yet driving him around and feeding him information to use in his investigation into very questionable deaths.

Professor Phil Bruwer is father to Melanie. His unkempt appearance while at first distracting, quickly becomes overlooked as his wisdom and generous nature prevail.

Quotes:

At the same time, there’s no denying that sometimes, in a sudden and unnerving way, one “recognises” a stranger as an equal, as an ally, as a companion, someone significant to oneself.

“I’ve been thinking about it more and more lately. How terrible it is to grow old without ever really having lived.”

“Don’t you think I know what it feels like? Waiting and waiting: as if life is an investment in a bank somewhere, a safe deposit which will be paid out to you one day, a fortune. And then you open your eyes and you discover that life is no more than the small change you’ve got in your back pocket today.”

“What I think, Dominee, is that once in one’s life, just once, one should have enough faith in something to risk everything for it.”

“There are only two kinds of madness one should guard against, Ben” he said calmly. “One is the belief that we can do everything. The other is the belief that we can do nothing.”

What a fantastic chat I’d have with Mr. Brink beginning with a discussion of banned books and how his compare to the current books banned in the US. I wonder how he survived to age 75 as a man who stood up for others. Such people are needed today!

My rating for A Dry White Season is a 9 out of 10.

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Next up, A Home at the End of the Road…