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The Cleansing
A shy, but quietly determined young woman, working in a small southern African town, Romance is saving furiously for the future but living a day’s journey from her village and her husband. Life appears routine.
The reader is exposed to her husband’s philandering, drinking and drug excess of which she is unaware. Following an ill-fated exchange with anti-poaching rangers, he finds himself drawn into the vicious world of tsotsi gangsters.
As the start of the new millennium approaches, the tension builds. Romance receives unwanted advances from male acquaintances, a visit by her husband becomes problematic, and her young English boss with whom she has established an uneasy friendship, finds himself in a situation where he is being accused of a heinous crime of which he denies all knowledge.
We are taken into towns where western values and aspirations encroach, into townships where the black economy and old rituals persist and through shanty towns on city boundaries where violent gangs run vice and drugs.
Whilst she is facing up to the trials and sadness a lonely New Year brings, the consequences and implications of the traditional rites of the past, still practised throughout her country and more apparently around where she lives, force her to make some life changing decisions.
Connor weaves a powerful plot, full of vivid encounters and fascinating characters. He depicts the harsh reality that still faces many, particularly the women, in Africa today, but never missing those opportunities for touches of humour and moments of gentleness that allow for hope to survive in desperate circumstances.
The reader is exposed to her husband’s philandering, drinking and drug excess of which she is unaware. Following an ill-fated exchange with anti-poaching rangers, he finds himself drawn into the vicious world of tsotsi gangsters.
As the start of the new millennium approaches, the tension builds. Romance receives unwanted advances from male acquaintances, a visit by her husband becomes problematic, and her young English boss with whom she has established an uneasy friendship, finds himself in a situation where he is being accused of a heinous crime of which he denies all knowledge.
We are taken into towns where western values and aspirations encroach, into townships where the black economy and old rituals persist and through shanty towns on city boundaries where violent gangs run vice and drugs.
Whilst she is facing up to the trials and sadness a lonely New Year brings, the consequences and implications of the traditional rites of the past, still practised throughout her country and more apparently around where she lives, force her to make some life changing decisions.
Connor weaves a powerful plot, full of vivid encounters and fascinating characters. He depicts the harsh reality that still faces many, particularly the women, in Africa today, but never missing those opportunities for touches of humour and moments of gentleness that allow for hope to survive in desperate circumstances.
236 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2014
About the author
Michael Connor
7 books6 followersMichael Connor is a freelance writer, specialising in food, travel and crime issues. He is hotel-school trained and has spent lengthy periods in Africa (including Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone), China, Greece, the former Republic of Yugoslavia, the Caribbean and the UK.
He has researched and written a full page weekly feature for the Caterer and Hotelkeeper over a six year period, plus a variety of pieces for Now Magazine, GQ, Adrenalin, The Guardian, The Mirror, The News of the World and FT Weekend.
Michael Connor is a member of English PEN which promotes free speech, human rights and a greater understanding through literature.
He has researched and written a full page weekly feature for the Caterer and Hotelkeeper over a six year period, plus a variety of pieces for Now Magazine, GQ, Adrenalin, The Guardian, The Mirror, The News of the World and FT Weekend.
Michael Connor is a member of English PEN which promotes free speech, human rights and a greater understanding through literature.
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