A Slim Green Silence

by Beverly Rycroft

Constance West is dead. She is floating above her hometown of Scheepersdorp, unsure how long it has been since she died, since the cancer took her. Beneath her are all the people she ever loved: her younger sister Sylvia, her domestic worker Princess, her good friend Alwyn, Bart, her neighbour, Harry, her guardian, her former lover Ivor, and her child, Marianne. Connie doesn’t know why she is back in Scheepersdorp in this spirit form. ‘All I can tell you,’ says the Boatman, who transports her there, ‘is you will know this thing when you see it. And you must be finished by half past six.’

A Slim, Green Silence is a journey through Connie’s past as she tries to understand why she is back home, and for what purpose. Not just a story about death, this is a tale about living and loving, about friendship and motherhood, loss and hope. Most of all, it is about ordinary people, and their attempts to make sense of a sometimes nonsensical world.

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Beverly Rycroft was born in the Eastern Cape. She is a graduate of the University of Cape Town and the University of the Witwatersrand. She worked as a teacher for several years before turning full time to writing and journalism. Her articles have been published widely both locally and internationally. Her poems have been published in local literary magazines such as Carapace, New Coin and scrutiny2. She lives in Cape Town with her family. Missing is her first collection of poems.

Reviews

[Kathryn McCarrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is complex and intricate, and to me shows a reflection of a human life lost - both good and bad. This book did not glorify the life of a person now passed, and showed instead a flawed life, one which was simultaneously rich and well lived. Be warned this book is bitterly sad and caused me to reflect on my own mortality despite being young. Would recommend to someone in the right headspace!

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's difficult when you're trying to put a picture across to somebody else. So many things happen at once. It’s up to you to choose which details to include, how to arrange them so whoever’s listening can join the dots for themselves. It’s in your power to make another person see what you want them to see.

This is a beautiful and unflinching story about death and life in a small town.

Connie isn't an instantly likeable narrator - you can imagine that she's been described as "difficult" her whole life - but she's totally honest about her flaws, and this book doesn't go in for hand-wringing about how she should have been better to the people in her life. It's a much more human and realistic look at her life and relationships, and her dry humour and honest reflection on her life ultimately make her a very sympathetic narrator.

Sometimes the structure was a bit confusing, with the narrative jumping between past and present, but the fragmented flashback structure is compelling, even though there are few great twists or surprises - rather gradually developing realisations which led to a satisfying conclusion.

Some of the characters felt hard to get a handle on. Harry is an example of this for me: I spent the whole book feeling like I didn't really understand him, although I had a lot of sympathy for him by the end. The Boatman is deliberately enigmatic, but the story of his death towards the end of the novel didn't feel fully developed, and I wasn't sure how to make sense of it in relation to the story as a whole, aside from his connection as Alwyn's heart donor. On the whole, though, the characters are convincing and engaging. The setting is also very vividly described, and as much a character as any of the human (or indeed animal) characters in the book. Scheepersdorp is described in loving detail, and it really creates a sense of the ups and downs of life in a small South African town.

By the time I finished this book, I was in tears. It was incredibly moving, without being at all corny or sentimental. It stares death and all the twistiness of human relationships in the face without blinking. Really lovely.

[Alison Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

My South African novel of the year. Highly recommended. Do not miss this book!

[Noëlle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading and this book is still as powerful and poignant as it was the first time I read A Slim Green Silence.
One of my favourite books!

[Karen Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely book to read. It had a completely unique feeling to it - quite different to any other book that I’ve read. Perhaps it was the physical state of the narrator that made it so, coupled with the descriptions of scenes from a South Africa that I can relate to.

I read the book about a year ago and the feeling of the book and some of the imagery has not left me. That is always the highest praise for any book. When it creeps into the recesses of your mind, with bits of it popping up in your thoughts and creating flickers of emotion - sometimes at strange times (like the 3am that I am lying awake and finding myself writing this).

[Nancy Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very unique story beautifully written. I loved the South Africanness of the book. It also portrayed the quirkiness and authenticity of the characters in such an excellent manner. I highly recommend this book

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this story about Constance endeavoring to come to terms with her imminent death and her relationships with those around her to be confusing at times. I did not like the character of Constance at all. She was certainly not an empathetic heroine. Some of the other characters too; such as the father-figure Harry, or the doctor Ivor, did not come across as fully-developed. I did not always understand their motivations for acting as they did.
Where this author did excel was in drawing sketches of life in a small South African country town. Her descriptions of the landscape and the flora and fauna are exquisite. She obviously has an intimate knowledge and love for the area in which this story is set. I could picture the plot with the old yellow wood tree, the plumbago hedge and the hill beyond, as if I were standing on the stoep next to Con.
The story did not particularly move me, as I felt it should have, given the subject matter, because I always felt at a distance from the character of Constance. A more sympathetic personality would have engaged me more emotionally. Possibly this was a device the author used on purpose to show how Constance was removed both physically and emotionally from those around her.

[Christina’s Word · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first my heart fell -- it's been done before. I thought of The Lovely Bones and Chocolat, but no. There may be someone dead telling the story, there may be a stranger blown in by the wind, but A Slim Green Silence is uniquely and imaginatively South African. Small dorp South African, Eastern Cape South African. It's a delicious flavour of the country old and new.
A huge yellowwood tree stands in the centre of the plot Connie inherited. It is a metaphor, a symbol -- it's the tree of life, of her life, of the people and creatures intertwined in and about and under it. It is about love, courage and the delicate balance of life. The green snake, the slim green silence -- like the snake Moses held in the desert, it needs to be handled carefully for it can both heal and harm. Rycroft handles, with great delicacy and balance, this story of love and life. It's one of the most beautiful stories I've read in a long time.

[Kim Ebner · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This is a very difficult book to review because I really liked it but yet it seemed to fall just short of a 4 star read for me. This is a beautifully written book set in a small town in South Africa. There was a lot to love about this story but it isn't a fast paced, cracker of a read. It is a story about people and places, wonderfully written and very emotive. Perhaps not enough action for me and some of the characters weren't very likeable but this was still a good read. Interesting. I liked it.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glad to have a read a book by a local author although I found it quite "vanilla". The story was well constructed and I liked the way the main characters life and death are revealed bit by bit, it flowed well. It just didn't blow me away.

[Rose Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully imagined and written. also funny.