Karen Jennings - Böcker

On the 1st December 1838,all slaves were finally freed on South Africa, four years after slavery hadofficially been abolished.First of December followsthree people during the week of November 1838: James and Caroline Kendrick, andan unnamed runaway slave making her way to Cape Town along the coast, desperateto reach it by midnight on the 31st November.Caroline is trapped in anunhappy marriage, in a place she hates, always longing to go home; bored,lonely, without purpose or any sense of belonging. James is forever on themove, desperate for success after a lifetime of failure and humiliation, seeingSouth Africa as his last great hope, preparing for the climax of his work, abank to serve the city. Each resents the other, feeling trapped and unloved,yet with a wish for it all to change. Meanwhile the slave-apprentice, fearfulof being caught before the deadline, meets others living on the coast, at theedge of society, yet always remaining alone, without any clear idea of what toexpect in Cape Town.

Deidre is a victim, of her family, her society, her history. That is how she sees herself, and so she feels free of all obligations, moral and practical. Until the police take her back to her family home...In a Cape Town where water is rationed and has to be collected from trucks each day, with the consequences of apartheid and the ending of it still evident, Deidre lives from day to day in squalor - largely created by herself - borrowing, persuading, cadging her way from the water trucks to the bar, testing the tolerance and pity of everyone she knows. Then she is contacted by the police, and taken by a respectful constable to the house where she grew up and where she lost her leg in a shattering explosion while still young. Faced with what is found there, she has to accept the truth of her past, and of her older brother, her parents' golden boy. Then she must confront herself and her responsibility, and what it truly is to be a victim.

Deidre is a victim, of herfamily, her society, her history. That is how she seesherself, and so she feels free of all obligations, moral and practical. Untilthe police take her back to her family home...In a Cape Town where wateris rationed and has to be collected from trucks each day, with the consequencesof apartheid and the ending of it still evident, Deidre lives from day to dayin squalor - largely created by herself- borrowing, persuading, cadging her way from the water trucks to the bar, testing the tolerance and pity of everyoneshe knows. Then she is contacted by the police, and taken by a respectfulconstable to the house where she grew up and where she lost her leg in ashattering explosion while still young. Faced with what is found there, she hasto accept the truth of her past, and of her older brother, her parents' goldenboy. Then she must confront herself and her responsibility, and what it trulyis to be a victim.

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 BOOKER PRIZE'An Island concerns itself with lives lived on the margins, through the story of a man who has exiledhimself from the known world only to find himself called to the service of others, themselves exiledfrom the world by cruelty and circumstance. It is on these grounds that this writer deftly constructsa moving, transfixing novel of loss, political upheaval, history, identity, all rendered in majestic andextraordinary prose.' Booker Prize Judges panel."A gripping, terrifying and unforgettable story." Elleke BoehmerSamuel has lived alone for a long time; one morning he finds the sea has brought someone to offer companionship and to threaten his solitude...A young refugee washes up unconscious on the beach of a small island inhabited by no one but Samuel, an old lighthouse keeper. Unsettled, Samuel is soon swept up in memories of his former life on the mainland: a life that saw his country suffer under colonisers, then fight for independence, only to fall under the rule of a cruel dictator; and he recalls his own part in its history. In this new man's presence he begins to consider, as he did in his youth, what is meant by land and to whom it should belong. To what lengths will a person go in order to ensure that what is theirs will not be taken from them?A novel about guilt and fear, friendship and rejection; about the meaning of home.