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The Savage Hour
De Wildt, South Africa.
On an oppressively hot day, an elderly doctor is found drowned in the dam on her home farm by her sixteen-year-old granddaughter. She slipped to her death.
Bereft, her community remembers a matriarch of fierce spirit, whose talent for healing and instinct for trouble brought solace to the people yet failed her children.
But her granddaughter and detective friend come to question the cause of her death – threatening to expose the fractures in the family with one insistent doubt: she did not slip.
From this discovery, this loss, ripples of disquiet will spread beyond the family; extending to servants and to farmhands; to the police, hospital and town beyond. All must face the wave that turns them from the course of their lives, or be swept under.
On an oppressively hot day, an elderly doctor is found drowned in the dam on her home farm by her sixteen-year-old granddaughter. She slipped to her death.
Bereft, her community remembers a matriarch of fierce spirit, whose talent for healing and instinct for trouble brought solace to the people yet failed her children.
But her granddaughter and detective friend come to question the cause of her death – threatening to expose the fractures in the family with one insistent doubt: she did not slip.
From this discovery, this loss, ripples of disquiet will spread beyond the family; extending to servants and to farmhands; to the police, hospital and town beyond. All must face the wave that turns them from the course of their lives, or be swept under.
- GenresFictionSouth Africa
376 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2014
176 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 20, 2014
From the first page of The Savage Hour I knew I was in the hands of a master storyteller. Even a watching jackal senses from his distance the foreboding that gathers around the death of Ouma. We know of the death in the first sentence, but it takes the rest of the book to feel the textures of the secrets the characters carry. It is worth the wait. As I read I watched how good people had become who they were as they lived through their separate experiences, three of them alongside each other with their mother, Ouma. A fourth, the young granddaughter, carries the question of what will be possible for her like a live coal that never cools and about which all her adults and I as the reader cared desperately. It's a serious book, with Elaine Proctor's gift for observation in artful, evocative phrases whose rhythm carries scenes of almost unbearable grief with a hand so light that beauty can never be forgotten. Nor can love. For all the mystery - which is both deft and deep - this is a story of love, and a powerful, fierce land, and how people manage with the hands they are dealt. It is a great read. I devoured it, slowly, because it takes time to absorb all that is happening on the varied levels that Proctor's writing brings to life with gathering force. It also has some very funny passages: the story of the Scrabble battle, literally of wits, whose protagonist is both losing her ability to use words and also indomitable; the improbable getup in which Jannie opens his door during the poetry reading. Unforgettable. The Africaans glossary takes some time, but it brings Proctor's first language and an extra glimpse of her great heart into the pages. Read this book.
August 3, 2014
Exquisitely written, insightful and gripping, The Savage Hour is absolutely captivating reading.
Revolving around a central incident — the passing of a family matriarch who's a doctor in rural South Africa — a complex, sometimes unnervingly familiar world is gradually revealed. It's a world rich in humanity and enriched through its exposure of the intricate relationships that are woven through time in families and friendships. Things and feelings long hidden and avoided gradually unfold, or are perhaps unmasked, through the lives of an intriguing cast of characters.
Part mystery — how did our matriarch actually die?, part family drama, part observation of a country wracked by recent history and memory through those who have lived it, Elaine Proctor's second novel both confirms and elevates the promise of her first, Rhumba. She's one of the most compelling writers today.
Revolving around a central incident — the passing of a family matriarch who's a doctor in rural South Africa — a complex, sometimes unnervingly familiar world is gradually revealed. It's a world rich in humanity and enriched through its exposure of the intricate relationships that are woven through time in families and friendships. Things and feelings long hidden and avoided gradually unfold, or are perhaps unmasked, through the lives of an intriguing cast of characters.
Part mystery — how did our matriarch actually die?, part family drama, part observation of a country wracked by recent history and memory through those who have lived it, Elaine Proctor's second novel both confirms and elevates the promise of her first, Rhumba. She's one of the most compelling writers today.
July 27, 2015
Divisions and links...
When the body of elderly Ouma is found drowned in the dam on her property, everyone assumes that she slipped. Everyone except her young granddaughter, Delilah, that is, who is convinced that there is more to it than that. But who would have killed Ouma – and why? Even in the apartheid years, she treated everyone in the community, black or white, with the same respect and used her skills as a doctor to help those in need. Despite the lack of motivation, Delilah persuades a young policeman, Jannie, to investigate her death.
Sometimes crime is only included in a novel, it seems to me, as a hook on which to hang a wider story, and that's the case in this one. Proctor uses the story of Ouma's relationships with her family and the community to paint a picture of rural life in post-apartheid South Africa, showing a society struggling to overcome the racial divisions that have scarred it. Still divided, with Ouma's white family as landowners and the black characters as employees, we also see the links that go back often to childhood, links of love and loyalty that cross racial lines. But this is a deeply troubled society, and Proctor touches on many of the strands that make it so – gang and random violence, police corruption, prostitution, AIDS, old tribal hatreds still surviving. Add in dementia, assisted suicide and homophobia and I couldn't help but feel at points that the book is trying to do too much.
We soon learn that Ouma had been suffering from the early stages of dementia and, as a doctor, was well aware of how the disease would progress. She had been asking all of those near to her to help her to die. Since the book opens with Ouma's death, her scenes are given to us in flashback, and it's partly through these that we get to know the other characters and see how they relate to each other. There's a fairly wide cast of characters – Ouma's family, her black housekeeper who is also a loyal friend, the farmworkers, Klein Samuel and Cheetah, and the policeman, Jannie, who each in different ways feel an intense love and loyalty to Ouma for having helped them at some crucial point in their lives.
There is an emotionalism in all of these linked stories that builds to something uncomfortably close to bathos at times. But the quality of the writing just about pulls it back from the brink, and I found the storytelling element compelling, though I did find that I could only read it in quite small chunks. Proctor is particularly strong at creating a sense of place, both of the struggling, drought-ridden farm and of the town, when we follow Jannie there. She gives a real feel for the harshness of lives lived on the edge of poverty and the sometimes cruel decisions people must make to ensure their survival.
I have mixed emotions about the book. I felt that there were too many points being made, too many strands being forced in. I've made this criticism of other books too – sometimes an author seems to want to cram every aspect of a complex society into her story and it becomes unreal that all these things would happen to such a small group of people in a short time, and that unreality tends in the end to lessen the effect. It's the old 'less is more' thing – in this one, I felt several strands, not least the 'murder mystery' itself, were unnecessary and in fact detracted from the overall impact. Nonetheless I enjoyed Proctor's writing style and for the most part she made the characters feel real, so that I cared about what happened to them. And I found her depiction of this struggling society a convincing one - bleak, certainly, but not devoid of hope. She subtly makes the point that whatever the difficulties of the present they pale in comparison to the apartheid past, and she shows the beginnings of a gradual realignment of the relationships between black and white South Africans, shifting slowly towards a more equal footing as time passes. A thought-provoking read and I would certainly be interested to read more of her work in the future.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Quercus.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
When the body of elderly Ouma is found drowned in the dam on her property, everyone assumes that she slipped. Everyone except her young granddaughter, Delilah, that is, who is convinced that there is more to it than that. But who would have killed Ouma – and why? Even in the apartheid years, she treated everyone in the community, black or white, with the same respect and used her skills as a doctor to help those in need. Despite the lack of motivation, Delilah persuades a young policeman, Jannie, to investigate her death.
Sometimes crime is only included in a novel, it seems to me, as a hook on which to hang a wider story, and that's the case in this one. Proctor uses the story of Ouma's relationships with her family and the community to paint a picture of rural life in post-apartheid South Africa, showing a society struggling to overcome the racial divisions that have scarred it. Still divided, with Ouma's white family as landowners and the black characters as employees, we also see the links that go back often to childhood, links of love and loyalty that cross racial lines. But this is a deeply troubled society, and Proctor touches on many of the strands that make it so – gang and random violence, police corruption, prostitution, AIDS, old tribal hatreds still surviving. Add in dementia, assisted suicide and homophobia and I couldn't help but feel at points that the book is trying to do too much.
We soon learn that Ouma had been suffering from the early stages of dementia and, as a doctor, was well aware of how the disease would progress. She had been asking all of those near to her to help her to die. Since the book opens with Ouma's death, her scenes are given to us in flashback, and it's partly through these that we get to know the other characters and see how they relate to each other. There's a fairly wide cast of characters – Ouma's family, her black housekeeper who is also a loyal friend, the farmworkers, Klein Samuel and Cheetah, and the policeman, Jannie, who each in different ways feel an intense love and loyalty to Ouma for having helped them at some crucial point in their lives.
There is an emotionalism in all of these linked stories that builds to something uncomfortably close to bathos at times. But the quality of the writing just about pulls it back from the brink, and I found the storytelling element compelling, though I did find that I could only read it in quite small chunks. Proctor is particularly strong at creating a sense of place, both of the struggling, drought-ridden farm and of the town, when we follow Jannie there. She gives a real feel for the harshness of lives lived on the edge of poverty and the sometimes cruel decisions people must make to ensure their survival.
I have mixed emotions about the book. I felt that there were too many points being made, too many strands being forced in. I've made this criticism of other books too – sometimes an author seems to want to cram every aspect of a complex society into her story and it becomes unreal that all these things would happen to such a small group of people in a short time, and that unreality tends in the end to lessen the effect. It's the old 'less is more' thing – in this one, I felt several strands, not least the 'murder mystery' itself, were unnecessary and in fact detracted from the overall impact. Nonetheless I enjoyed Proctor's writing style and for the most part she made the characters feel real, so that I cared about what happened to them. And I found her depiction of this struggling society a convincing one - bleak, certainly, but not devoid of hope. She subtly makes the point that whatever the difficulties of the present they pale in comparison to the apartheid past, and she shows the beginnings of a gradual realignment of the relationships between black and white South Africans, shifting slowly towards a more equal footing as time passes. A thought-provoking read and I would certainly be interested to read more of her work in the future.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Quercus.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
June 5, 2017
I loved this book. I've read it 3 times at least. It is a picturesque story of life in Africa, (with strong characters whom you may love or not,) but the story has the scents of Africa, the heat, the dust, and the hardships and pain of loss and many kinds of love. With this set of unique and complex characters you want to follow them even when the story has finished.
September 9, 2024
Surprisingly I really enjoyed this book.
June 20, 2015
Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review.
You know how when you look at the back cover of a book and they sometimes have those short, one-line reviews? Mine for this book would be, “The 21st century’s South African To Kill a Mockingbird“, which is a bit of a bugger because Harper Lee has a new book coming out. All I can say is, she’s got a lot of competition.
What’s interesting here, though, is that it crosses genres so fluidly – it’s like a murder mystery in some ways, and like The Fault in Our Stars in others. The author also uses dialect terms and foreign languages so fluidly that it just feels natural, and you don’t really need the mini-dictionary at the back of the book to understand what people are getting at. In fact, I was seriously impressed by the overall quality of the writing – it was just solid, evocative prose, and what else do you need?
In terms of the plot, I don’t want to give too much away, but I think I can safely say that we’re looking at a story about an elderly woman who’s found drowned, and the ensuing investigation into what really happened. Alas, things are rarely that simple, and that’s kind of the beauty of it here – there are so many little forks to the story line, so many little nuances, that it’s simultaneously a complex and simple read.
And then there’s the way that it makes you question things, too. And here’s where we come back to To Kill a Mockingbird – to be honest, as much as I loved that novel, and as much as racism is still a problem, I’m neither a racist nor a victim of racism. But here, Proctor deals with alzheimer’s and dementia, which could potentially affect us all, especially when you consider how short our attention spans are already becoming. For me, that made the whole book more relatable.
So should you buy it? Hell yes, you should – you’ve got nothing to lose and a lot to gain. Go do it!
You know how when you look at the back cover of a book and they sometimes have those short, one-line reviews? Mine for this book would be, “The 21st century’s South African To Kill a Mockingbird“, which is a bit of a bugger because Harper Lee has a new book coming out. All I can say is, she’s got a lot of competition.
What’s interesting here, though, is that it crosses genres so fluidly – it’s like a murder mystery in some ways, and like The Fault in Our Stars in others. The author also uses dialect terms and foreign languages so fluidly that it just feels natural, and you don’t really need the mini-dictionary at the back of the book to understand what people are getting at. In fact, I was seriously impressed by the overall quality of the writing – it was just solid, evocative prose, and what else do you need?
In terms of the plot, I don’t want to give too much away, but I think I can safely say that we’re looking at a story about an elderly woman who’s found drowned, and the ensuing investigation into what really happened. Alas, things are rarely that simple, and that’s kind of the beauty of it here – there are so many little forks to the story line, so many little nuances, that it’s simultaneously a complex and simple read.
And then there’s the way that it makes you question things, too. And here’s where we come back to To Kill a Mockingbird – to be honest, as much as I loved that novel, and as much as racism is still a problem, I’m neither a racist nor a victim of racism. But here, Proctor deals with alzheimer’s and dementia, which could potentially affect us all, especially when you consider how short our attention spans are already becoming. For me, that made the whole book more relatable.
So should you buy it? Hell yes, you should – you’ve got nothing to lose and a lot to gain. Go do it!
October 5, 2015
I won this book on Goodreads. Ouma, a matriarchal figure from a small, dusty, South African town is found drowned in a nearby pool. Jannie, the town’s gay detective questions her cause of death, at personal risk. Footprints are found at the site, as well as unexplained substance beneath Ouma’s fingernails. Her death brings to light a community not only bereft, but festering with hidden grievances and desires. An interesting-sounding story, but very little happened for large chunks of the book. The storytelling seemed designed to reflect the slow pace of this community, which was for me too slow. It was only on page 242 that anyone gets round to matching the mysterious footprints to treads.
Proctor’s writing style was stilted in places, but had some nice turns of phrases (such as to describe Cheetah, an ex-prostitute who lives in the village) ‘the crudeness of the gesture reveals her ruin as if a hard bright light had fallen upon her allure.’ Similarly, Proctor’s characters are well-drawn, allowing their actions to speak for themselves.
The book’s main focus seemed to be private misery: Klein Samson’s wilting form and unrequited love; Isla’s lonely existence overcast by Ouma’s shadow and Cheetah’s treatment as a pariah. Poverty and the meanness of the dusty landscape was conveyed well, but the story was slow and the read grim in places.
The mystery of Ouma’s death turned out to have added complexity that shed a different light upon the characters. The plot took pace in the latter stages of the book but felt the opening chapters (and large chunks) possessed insufficient hooks for the reader to keep turning the pages. I found myself refraining from doing so. But other readers may not.
Proctor’s writing style was stilted in places, but had some nice turns of phrases (such as to describe Cheetah, an ex-prostitute who lives in the village) ‘the crudeness of the gesture reveals her ruin as if a hard bright light had fallen upon her allure.’ Similarly, Proctor’s characters are well-drawn, allowing their actions to speak for themselves.
The book’s main focus seemed to be private misery: Klein Samson’s wilting form and unrequited love; Isla’s lonely existence overcast by Ouma’s shadow and Cheetah’s treatment as a pariah. Poverty and the meanness of the dusty landscape was conveyed well, but the story was slow and the read grim in places.
The mystery of Ouma’s death turned out to have added complexity that shed a different light upon the characters. The plot took pace in the latter stages of the book but felt the opening chapters (and large chunks) possessed insufficient hooks for the reader to keep turning the pages. I found myself refraining from doing so. But other readers may not.
June 13, 2014
I received this book through goodreads first reads for free.
Looking at the back and what this is about it does sound really interesting. It seemed to have a very good story line and sounded like a very interesting book to read.
The main problem with this book is it takes a bit too long before anything happens and nothing good happens for long enough. This means that interest is lost so it is very important to have lots happening to keep the reader interested in the story line.
Feedback - Thanks so much for the book. I appreciate anything I have from this site and wish the author luck. What it was about and how the story was thought was good and the book could have been very good. I have to admit though that the story line that I read on the back seemed very interesting but the main problem was it dragged and didn't get anywhere for a while and then when something did happen in the book it didn't happen in the future. Good luck on any future books, please take this constructed feedback on board and I wish you luck in the future.
Looking at the back and what this is about it does sound really interesting. It seemed to have a very good story line and sounded like a very interesting book to read.
The main problem with this book is it takes a bit too long before anything happens and nothing good happens for long enough. This means that interest is lost so it is very important to have lots happening to keep the reader interested in the story line.
Feedback - Thanks so much for the book. I appreciate anything I have from this site and wish the author luck. What it was about and how the story was thought was good and the book could have been very good. I have to admit though that the story line that I read on the back seemed very interesting but the main problem was it dragged and didn't get anywhere for a while and then when something did happen in the book it didn't happen in the future. Good luck on any future books, please take this constructed feedback on board and I wish you luck in the future.
April 12, 2016
I can't remember where I heard about this book, but I downloaded it to my Kindle. Once I started reading I was completely in the book. I could imagine everything, see the place, smell the smells. Of course the fact that I grew up in southern Africa helped, and more specifically that I spent several years at school and uni in SA during the time of 'hard' apartheid helped me to visualise.
Never-the-less this is a great read. An old woman who everyone calls 'Oma' (Grandma in Afrikaans) is found drowned in a dam on the family farm. She had been a doctor to the local community regardless of their race. It is assumed she slipped on the mud. Her granddaughter and a local cop are not sure that is the case...the story follows from that; unveiling the fragile family relationships, the tensions between the more liberal white South Africans and their Boer compatriots.
A very thought provoking book which I highly recommend.
Never-the-less this is a great read. An old woman who everyone calls 'Oma' (Grandma in Afrikaans) is found drowned in a dam on the family farm. She had been a doctor to the local community regardless of their race. It is assumed she slipped on the mud. Her granddaughter and a local cop are not sure that is the case...the story follows from that; unveiling the fragile family relationships, the tensions between the more liberal white South Africans and their Boer compatriots.
A very thought provoking book which I highly recommend.
March 14, 2015
The story flows like a deep, brown river. Dragonflies flit above the surface, but underneath, in the murky water, the debris of human lives is swirling and then slowly sinking in the mud.
Events in the lives of a South African farm are sketched with a few dispassionate, even casual, strokes, always understated and therefore all the more gut-wrenching in its intensity when the tale unfolds.
In contrast to many books dealing with racial politics and Afrikaners, the depiction of the characters are free of the stereotypes so often prevalent in similar tales. The story soars above the confines of time and place to an elegiac depiction of the human condition.
This is a truly great book.
Events in the lives of a South African farm are sketched with a few dispassionate, even casual, strokes, always understated and therefore all the more gut-wrenching in its intensity when the tale unfolds.
In contrast to many books dealing with racial politics and Afrikaners, the depiction of the characters are free of the stereotypes so often prevalent in similar tales. The story soars above the confines of time and place to an elegiac depiction of the human condition.
This is a truly great book.
July 14, 2014
I was taken with the intrigue and societal relevance of the story, set in rural South Africa, and the delicate complexities of the characters lives and emotions -- the things that always engage me in any good book. It's the story of Ouma, an aging physician, her life of caring for the vulnerable and ultimately the struggle of her extended family's own compassion and vulnerabilities when Ouma realizes she can no longer carry on.
November 2, 2015
Seem to be seriously going against the flow with this one. Having seen the author talk about this book and Alzheimers I thought I would be sucked in...but no. I am unsure whether it was the South African farm setting (but I have a friend with a farm in South Africa and so thought that would be fascinating), lifestyles, overplayed characters, family dynamics, the human condition or the central "Ouma". I just found it repetitive beyond belief, tedious and painfully slow.
July 15, 2014
I received this book as part of a goodreads giveaway.
I really enjoyed this character driven story. Each interaction and observation was carefully and intricately described - the arid, stark landscape, the inherent racial tensions and disintegration of personal relationships. It doesn't shy away from some controversial themes
I really enjoyed this character driven story. Each interaction and observation was carefully and intricately described - the arid, stark landscape, the inherent racial tensions and disintegration of personal relationships. It doesn't shy away from some controversial themes
August 31, 2014
Powerful, complicated book. Such all encompassing sorrows among a host of characters, but I would still like to know more about their continuing lives. The rural South African setting is very different from ones we usually experience. Hope Elaine Proctor continues writing with another wonderful book in the future.
October 13, 2014
I tremendously enjoyed how the author blended these complex characters in an intriguing mystery. I felt transported to a South Africa that I could understand thru the eyes of people whom I would never, in my real life, encounter; that for me is a great read as it gives me insight into a specific culture and probes themes and issues that exist across all cultures.
June 10, 2014
Good read apart from going to the last pages to see what some the words meant.
December 28, 2015
Lyrical, well-written and crafted. It drew me in and kept me turning the pages... A melancholic and evocative read. Characters all unique and intriguing.
April 6, 2016
The most heartbreaking and lyrical book I've read for a long time. Full of richly crafted characters, set in contemporary South Africa. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews