A blade of grass / Lewis DeSoto.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

DeSoto, Lewis.

Contributor:

Gotham Book Mart Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Farm life--Fiction.

Farm life.

Women farmers--Fiction.

Women farmers.

Race relations--Fiction.

Race relations.

South Africa--Fiction.

South Africa.

Genre:

Fiction.

Suspense fiction.

Penn Provenance:

Gotham Book Mart (former owner) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Physical Description:

389, 13 pages : illustrations, portrait ; 21 cm

Edition:

First trade paperback edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Ecco, 2004.

Summary:

Set on the border between South Africa and an unnamed neighboring country in the 1970s, A Blade of Grass is a suspenseful novel about a bitter struggle over a small farm and its dramatic consequences for two women, one white and one black. The story centers on Ma;rit Laurens, a young woman of British descent, recently orphaned and newly wed, who comes to live with her husband, Ben, on their newly purchased farm. Shortly after her arrival, violence strikes at the heart of Ma;rit's world, leaving her alone and isolated. Devastated, confused, but determined to run the farm on her own, Ma;rit finds herself in a simmering tug of war between the local Afrikaner community that surrounds the farm and the black workers who live on it, both vying for control over the land in the wake of tragedy. Ma;rit's only supporter is her black housekeeper, Tembi, who, like Ma;rit, is alone in the world. The women are determined to hold on to the farm, but the quietly encroaching civil war brings out conflicting loyalties that turn the fight for the farm into a fight for their lives. A Blade of Grass is a wrenching story of friendship and betrayal and of the trauma of the land that has shaped post-colonial Africa. Thrilling to read and morally complex in its message, it offers a fresh, profound, and emotionally immediate perspective on what it means to be black or white in a country where both races live and feel entitlement.

Notes:

Includes interview with the author and additional background information.

ISBN:

0060554274

9780060554279

OCLC:

56733078