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Gem Squash Tokoloshe
A poignant and heart-wrenching story of the dissolution of a marriage seen through the eyes of an innocent child She just sat there hardly moving, staring at the drive. Black marks formed under her eyes where her lashes bled their waxy coating onto her skin. Her rouged cheeks were smudged. Mother looked like she was melting in the heat. Faith leads an isolated existence on her family's drought stricken farm in the Northern Transvaal of South Africa. When the rain stopped, her father took to the road as a travelling salesman, returning only at weekends. Now Faith lives with her mother Bella and dog Boesman anticipating his visits - until one day he stops coming and Bella's health begins to go into rapid decline. Fifteen years later Bella has died incarcerated in the Sterkfontein asylum for the criminally insane. Faith has not spoken to her mother for ten years and is on the brink of a breakdown of her own. Now, with her mother's death, she inherits the farm and must return to confront the dark mysteries of the past . . . In prose as lithe and imaginative as that of Alexandra Fuller, Rachel Zadok te Riele recreates the voice of a young girl growing up during the height of apartheid unrest in South Africa. As Faith struggles to make sense of the complex world in which she lives and come to terms with the beliefs her society and upbringing have inculcated in her, what emerges is a richly compelling, emotionally resonant tale of courage set against the backdrop of a chaotically divided and deeply beautiful country.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
11 people are currently reading
301 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Zadok
13 books43 followersRachel Zadok is a writer, editor, publisher and the curator of Short Story Day Africa, a platform for African fiction. She has a National Diploma in Fine Arts. Her first novel, Gem Squash Tokoloshe (Pan Macmillan), was shortlisted for The Whitbread First Novel Award and The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, and longlisted for the IMPAC award. Her second novel, Sister-sister (Kwela Books 2013) was nominated for the Herman Charles Bosman Prize and the UJ Prize.
She has published three anthologies of African short fiction as curator of Short Story Day Africa. Feast, Famine & Potluck, Terra Incognita and Water.
She lives in Cape Town with her husband and daughter.
She has published three anthologies of African short fiction as curator of Short Story Day Africa. Feast, Famine & Potluck, Terra Incognita and Water.
She lives in Cape Town with her husband and daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
August 16, 2017
Summary in a quote: “Somehow, these imaginings become my reality.”
Faith’s life goes from idyllic to shattered in the first four chapters. In chapter five, as her parents have a loud and violent argument, she narrates; “The stitches that held my jersey together began to unravel”. What a beautiful image of her life unraveling.
As a first novel, I think it is a great story. However, I feel that it needed some tightening up regarding repeated metaphors and certain images. For example; Faith faints or passes out so many times over the course of the novel that I started to roll my eyes at the signs.
The sexism and misogyny of the male characters is appalling but I guess quite realistic for the culture and the time. The father skips out on the marriage and the mother takes the blame and social stigma. Oom Piet is the devil. Ugh. I’ve known too many Oom Piets, unfortunately. Then Doctor Fourie claims “Women think too much, don’t get on with things”… I could punch him.
However, I feel that the male characters are all caricatures. I mean, there’s a character called “Merve the perv”. That’s pretty much all we know about him; he’s a perv. Which I guess is reverse misogyny on Zadok’s part, 10 points.
Of course, we must address the issue of memory in this story and how it can deceive. There’s the obvious subject of Faith’s amnesia regarding the night Nomsa died and how the memory is returned to her; memory, or the lack of it, is critical to Faith’s character as an adult. But there’s also this:
“I could never see her properly, not all of her, and what I could see was so fleeting that it still left me with nothing to hold on to. Memory is fickle and it fades fast, soon she was just a faceless name, attached to a set of stories I told myself, alone in the bathroom. The loss of her memory made me feel small and insignificant and homeless, like I belonged nowhere.” (Pg 203)
Zadok was quoted in 2005 as saying “The book is really about belief and the influence society has on children.” Perhaps this explains the last page where she returns to Mia and Molly. These women have become her family and are as responsible for who she is as her parents are. As is every other person who has crossed her path, Nomsa, Oom Piet, Tannie Hettie, even Ketso. They have all contributed to who she has become, for better or worse.
PS. spelling mistake on pg 230. “secretes” instead of “secrets”, pout.
Full review at: https://plainjaynne.wordpress.com/201...
Faith’s life goes from idyllic to shattered in the first four chapters. In chapter five, as her parents have a loud and violent argument, she narrates; “The stitches that held my jersey together began to unravel”. What a beautiful image of her life unraveling.
As a first novel, I think it is a great story. However, I feel that it needed some tightening up regarding repeated metaphors and certain images. For example; Faith faints or passes out so many times over the course of the novel that I started to roll my eyes at the signs.
The sexism and misogyny of the male characters is appalling but I guess quite realistic for the culture and the time. The father skips out on the marriage and the mother takes the blame and social stigma. Oom Piet is the devil. Ugh. I’ve known too many Oom Piets, unfortunately. Then Doctor Fourie claims “Women think too much, don’t get on with things”… I could punch him.
However, I feel that the male characters are all caricatures. I mean, there’s a character called “Merve the perv”. That’s pretty much all we know about him; he’s a perv. Which I guess is reverse misogyny on Zadok’s part, 10 points.
Of course, we must address the issue of memory in this story and how it can deceive. There’s the obvious subject of Faith’s amnesia regarding the night Nomsa died and how the memory is returned to her; memory, or the lack of it, is critical to Faith’s character as an adult. But there’s also this:
“I could never see her properly, not all of her, and what I could see was so fleeting that it still left me with nothing to hold on to. Memory is fickle and it fades fast, soon she was just a faceless name, attached to a set of stories I told myself, alone in the bathroom. The loss of her memory made me feel small and insignificant and homeless, like I belonged nowhere.” (Pg 203)
Zadok was quoted in 2005 as saying “The book is really about belief and the influence society has on children.” Perhaps this explains the last page where she returns to Mia and Molly. These women have become her family and are as responsible for who she is as her parents are. As is every other person who has crossed her path, Nomsa, Oom Piet, Tannie Hettie, even Ketso. They have all contributed to who she has become, for better or worse.
PS. spelling mistake on pg 230. “secretes” instead of “secrets”, pout.
Full review at: https://plainjaynne.wordpress.com/201...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2020
I really liked how unreliable a narrator Faith was jumping forward and backward in time, talking about fairies as if they are real, as if they are just a mental illness, no whoops they are real, no whoops they are not. She's a child and there are some very traumatising events and it makes it hard to be sure what is what.
The bookends by Dead Rex kind of spoil that for me. I suppose we are supposed to take that at face value. The non-standard English of Dead Rex bothers me and the way he and the other fairies are portrayed as African but kind of the property of a white family although apart from that the book is not racist and definitely does not seem racist in intent. I don't know the writer's ethnicity so I don't know how authentic her standpoint with the fairies it but it bothered me that a white family owned them (were infested with them sure, but Bella had some sort of pact of love with them). The colorblindness of the young Faith seemed unlikely (she saw skin but not the political meanings of it) and for much of the book I felt that race was an elephant in the room (which makes the blurb on the back inaccurate).
It turned out this family specialised in elephants in the room and I felt that the vagueness might have belonged to the characters rather than the author plus it started unravelling which was good. The twist at the end is heavily foreshadowed in many comments so I was expecting it, however it came as somewhat of an anticlimax and after it came the book was rushed and lost impact.
Nevertheless I liked the depiction of madness/fairies, I felt it was a horror story which managed not to be too camp to be horrifying. Faith's father's role in the whole thing is really despicable and I spent about half the book indignant that he seemed to be portrayed as the better parent and the more beloved one but it became clear later that this was an unhealthy response to his absence and the inability to process traumatic events. I don't know what to think about Faith being healed and loved at the end. I am left numb from some of the events in the book still she had one of the most messed up childhoods I have ever read.
Anyway this one was certainly not a trope-fest and anyone who wants something extremely dark (except for the end) and original should try it.
The bookends by Dead Rex kind of spoil that for me. I suppose we are supposed to take that at face value. The non-standard English of Dead Rex bothers me and the way he and the other fairies are portrayed as African but kind of the property of a white family although apart from that the book is not racist and definitely does not seem racist in intent. I don't know the writer's ethnicity so I don't know how authentic her standpoint with the fairies it but it bothered me that a white family owned them (were infested with them sure, but Bella had some sort of pact of love with them). The colorblindness of the young Faith seemed unlikely (she saw skin but not the political meanings of it) and for much of the book I felt that race was an elephant in the room (which makes the blurb on the back inaccurate).
It turned out this family specialised in elephants in the room and I felt that the vagueness might have belonged to the characters rather than the author plus it started unravelling which was good. The twist at the end is heavily foreshadowed in many comments so I was expecting it, however it came as somewhat of an anticlimax and after it came the book was rushed and lost impact.
Nevertheless I liked the depiction of madness/fairies, I felt it was a horror story which managed not to be too camp to be horrifying. Faith's father's role in the whole thing is really despicable and I spent about half the book indignant that he seemed to be portrayed as the better parent and the more beloved one but it became clear later that this was an unhealthy response to his absence and the inability to process traumatic events. I don't know what to think about Faith being healed and loved at the end. I am left numb from some of the events in the book still she had one of the most messed up childhoods I have ever read.
Anyway this one was certainly not a trope-fest and anyone who wants something extremely dark (except for the end) and original should try it.
April 17, 2016
Seven-year-old Faith and her family lead an isolated existence on a drought stricken farm in the Northern Transvaal of South Africa. When her father leaves, Faith lives not only with her mother and dog, but also with the many ghosts her mother believes in. Left behind by her husband, Faith’s mother, Bella becomes depressed. When their housemaid Nomsa is killed, Bella is incarcerated in the Sterkfontein asylum for the criminally insane, and Faith is placed in foster care.
Fifteen years later, after Bella’s death, Faith returns to the farm. As she is on the brink of a breakdown of her own, she hopes to find herself again. Instead, she is forced to face the past and come to terms with what really happened in the winter when Nomsa died.
I came across this book in the library last year, but only took it out recently. It’s good that I didn’t take it out earlier as I probably would not have appreciated it so much. In fact there is more to this story than meets the eye. There is the private drama of one family set against the backdrop of a changing nation. And there are the different takes on madness or better said the devastating effect of some ideas – beliefs and memories.
I could easily relate to the sensitive Faith, especially the child and liked the structure of the book a lot. The second part had a few unnecessary details for me, but that didn’t change so much about how I feel about the book. I was pretty much in the ban of the Tokoloshe as I read this book in two days. At first, I skipped the gibberish-like prologue but finally came to read it towards the end. The prologue seems unnecessairy, but as Death Rex gets the final word as well, it seems only logical. While the prologue gives us a glimpse of the fatal night, the epilogue gives us a message.
Fifteen years later, after Bella’s death, Faith returns to the farm. As she is on the brink of a breakdown of her own, she hopes to find herself again. Instead, she is forced to face the past and come to terms with what really happened in the winter when Nomsa died.
I came across this book in the library last year, but only took it out recently. It’s good that I didn’t take it out earlier as I probably would not have appreciated it so much. In fact there is more to this story than meets the eye. There is the private drama of one family set against the backdrop of a changing nation. And there are the different takes on madness or better said the devastating effect of some ideas – beliefs and memories.
I could easily relate to the sensitive Faith, especially the child and liked the structure of the book a lot. The second part had a few unnecessary details for me, but that didn’t change so much about how I feel about the book. I was pretty much in the ban of the Tokoloshe as I read this book in two days. At first, I skipped the gibberish-like prologue but finally came to read it towards the end. The prologue seems unnecessairy, but as Death Rex gets the final word as well, it seems only logical. While the prologue gives us a glimpse of the fatal night, the epilogue gives us a message.
August 19, 2013
Although this was an interesting book, it isn't one I would recommend to my friends. It was quite depressing, and I was a bit disappointed with it. I did like the ending, but I'm not sure I would have got that far if I hadn't set it for my book club to read.
I had read it before, around the time it was published, but I really couldn't remember much about it. I do remember feeling a bit like it didn't meet my expectations at the time and, although I got more out of it this time, I still feel that way about it.
One of the things that did appeal to me though was the way the "Western" ideas of magic/mythology/fairy tales were combined with the South African ones. I've never seen that done before. I don't suppose there are that many white people in South Africa who would use a witch doctor, so I like that he was the one who was able to sort Faith out in the end.
I also liked the way Zadok wrote Dead Rex's first person bit at the beginning and end.
I found it interesting to think about how the mother's "madness" and imaginings were actually Faith's reality because she had no idea that her Mum had made them up. It must have been a scary life, constantly living in fear of those bad creatures. The way the pictures her Mum had painted seemed to be able to watch her and communicate with her, reminded me a bit of Harry Potter, and I thought it was quite terrifying when she discovered that all the paintings actually looked like her.
I usually like books about magic - The Lollipop Shoes, Harry Potter, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - but this one didn't really live up to my expectations.
I had read it before, around the time it was published, but I really couldn't remember much about it. I do remember feeling a bit like it didn't meet my expectations at the time and, although I got more out of it this time, I still feel that way about it.
One of the things that did appeal to me though was the way the "Western" ideas of magic/mythology/fairy tales were combined with the South African ones. I've never seen that done before. I don't suppose there are that many white people in South Africa who would use a witch doctor, so I like that he was the one who was able to sort Faith out in the end.
I also liked the way Zadok wrote Dead Rex's first person bit at the beginning and end.
I found it interesting to think about how the mother's "madness" and imaginings were actually Faith's reality because she had no idea that her Mum had made them up. It must have been a scary life, constantly living in fear of those bad creatures. The way the pictures her Mum had painted seemed to be able to watch her and communicate with her, reminded me a bit of Harry Potter, and I thought it was quite terrifying when she discovered that all the paintings actually looked like her.
I usually like books about magic - The Lollipop Shoes, Harry Potter, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - but this one didn't really live up to my expectations.
Read
January 27, 2008I wasn't a fan of the opening passage, and was glad to see that the book didn't continue in that style. The story was believable and illuminating - particularly the way desperate poverty and lack of opportunities (Faith's family is regarded as "rich", but she doesn't go to school since they can't afford to buy the uniform) is contrasted with Western consumer products. The ending was a twist I hadn't expected, but it wasn't explained enough for me - I like my loose ends tied up.
December 6, 2015
I'm not sure where I picked up this book but I thought it sounded interesting. I like reading books set in other countries, particularly African countries, and I hadn't read many set in South Africa so I thought I'd give it a go.
On the whole, it was an easy, enjoyable-enough read. I thought the innocent naivety of the central character's perspective on the strained relationship between her parents was interesting but I felt the overall plot was a bit weak.
On the whole, it was an easy, enjoyable-enough read. I thought the innocent naivety of the central character's perspective on the strained relationship between her parents was interesting but I felt the overall plot was a bit weak.
May 18, 2008
This book totally gripped me - could not put it down till I was finished. The world the author created, particularly through the use of such evocative language, was vibrant and rich. The very real struggle of a woman trying to come to terms with her past is interwoven with the unearthly superstitions and eerie folk tales of South Africa.
October 19, 2017
I found this a tricky and not massively enjoyable read. The first section was repetitive and seemed intent on conveying to the reader only half of what was going on. There were paintings, evil fairies, vegetables, and - this being South Africa - a compulsory side order of hardened racism.
The back cover promised a forward-leap in time during the story and I found myself desperate for it to happen, in the hope that the presumably-unreliable narrator would become a bit more reliable with age. Unfortunately not - you have to wait for the very very end to be filled in on what actually happened. If asked to make a guess at the halfway stage, I would have guessed right, but I was glad to find that when it was all wrapped up I understood what the book had sought to convey - even going back and re-reading (and understanding) the weird first bit. Having feared that I would struggle through and still be none the wiser I was grateful for that much.
Maybe it's the state of affairs that has the white characters moaning about their miserable lives in a country where they have appropriated all the advantages that makes me dislike this sort of book, but anyway, just not my cup of tea.
The back cover promised a forward-leap in time during the story and I found myself desperate for it to happen, in the hope that the presumably-unreliable narrator would become a bit more reliable with age. Unfortunately not - you have to wait for the very very end to be filled in on what actually happened. If asked to make a guess at the halfway stage, I would have guessed right, but I was glad to find that when it was all wrapped up I understood what the book had sought to convey - even going back and re-reading (and understanding) the weird first bit. Having feared that I would struggle through and still be none the wiser I was grateful for that much.
Maybe it's the state of affairs that has the white characters moaning about their miserable lives in a country where they have appropriated all the advantages that makes me dislike this sort of book, but anyway, just not my cup of tea.
December 17, 2020
A coming of age tale, filled with dark superstitions and very real tragedies.
This book ticks so many boxes regarding what I look for in a good, gripping story: coming of age; mysterious past events; mythological beings both good and evil. Bonus points for being unapologetically set in South Africa - no sugar-coating and glossing over of the realities of racial tension and the hardships of getting by, pre- and post- the transition to the new South Africa.
Faith as a narrator felt as young as her seven years - every bit as innocent and hopeful as I expected her to be. Her mother, Bella's, deteriorating mental state was treated carefully and never forced.
The pace, for the most part, flowed well, but did rush to the conclusion. I had hoped for more of adult Faith's life, but was not left too lost at the end as to her revelations.
I love discovering South African authors who can accurately describe both the city and the bush/farm. Rachel Zadok does this exceptionally well, using tastes, sights, sounds, smells, touch, and the sixth sense of belonging that you only truly know when you've lived in and loved a place.
I'd recommend this book to fans of Masha du Toit, Tallulah Lucy, Alice Hoffman, and Jodi Picoult.
This book ticks so many boxes regarding what I look for in a good, gripping story: coming of age; mysterious past events; mythological beings both good and evil. Bonus points for being unapologetically set in South Africa - no sugar-coating and glossing over of the realities of racial tension and the hardships of getting by, pre- and post- the transition to the new South Africa.
Faith as a narrator felt as young as her seven years - every bit as innocent and hopeful as I expected her to be. Her mother, Bella's, deteriorating mental state was treated carefully and never forced.
The pace, for the most part, flowed well, but did rush to the conclusion. I had hoped for more of adult Faith's life, but was not left too lost at the end as to her revelations.
I love discovering South African authors who can accurately describe both the city and the bush/farm. Rachel Zadok does this exceptionally well, using tastes, sights, sounds, smells, touch, and the sixth sense of belonging that you only truly know when you've lived in and loved a place.
I'd recommend this book to fans of Masha du Toit, Tallulah Lucy, Alice Hoffman, and Jodi Picoult.
February 1, 2019
If you're a bit sensitive to spiritual activity,then you need to avoid this one. It has them by the heapfuls, but it is very subtle for most of the book.
I felt the childhood aspect of her life spanned on for too long, there was little need to really emphasise the "height of apartheid" in the blurb as this is hardly covered in the book.
As an adult, she is co-dependent, while pushing people away, her upbringing obviously has much to do with this. But she is irritating in that, she wants to be loved/liked/accepted, while beung weary of people; particularly assertive people.
Every men in this book is damaged in some way of another. Her father, Merv, Tsego (I think that's his name) Oom Piet, the man who looks after the farm/ the men at the butchery. I don't think Rachel is fond of of the male species.
The ending however brings it all together and you start having some kind if an idea why she is how she is, though it really baffles me how she can forget SO MUCH.
I felt the childhood aspect of her life spanned on for too long, there was little need to really emphasise the "height of apartheid" in the blurb as this is hardly covered in the book.
As an adult, she is co-dependent, while pushing people away, her upbringing obviously has much to do with this. But she is irritating in that, she wants to be loved/liked/accepted, while beung weary of people; particularly assertive people.
Every men in this book is damaged in some way of another. Her father, Merv, Tsego (I think that's his name) Oom Piet, the man who looks after the farm/ the men at the butchery. I don't think Rachel is fond of of the male species.
The ending however brings it all together and you start having some kind if an idea why she is how she is, though it really baffles me how she can forget SO MUCH.
June 14, 2021
A book of two halves.
The first is narrated by 7 year old Faith who lives on a farm that seems to be mainly populated by bad fairies. I loved the aspects of magical realism and the feel of strangeness, difference and not being able to fully understand Faith's take on the world, her father's leaving and her mother's breakdown.
The second book starts out with a now young adult Faith in Johannesburg, and this part I found flawed and more distorted and distended than the first. She seems not to have the greatest relationship with reality or herself, and blame everyone for this but herself. It's not until she decides to return to the farm and make sense of her childhood that it comes alive again, and leads to a really shocking and quite unforseen dénouement.
This would have been a higher score but for the extended part about Johannesburg that didn't seem to fit within the whole for me.
The first is narrated by 7 year old Faith who lives on a farm that seems to be mainly populated by bad fairies. I loved the aspects of magical realism and the feel of strangeness, difference and not being able to fully understand Faith's take on the world, her father's leaving and her mother's breakdown.
The second book starts out with a now young adult Faith in Johannesburg, and this part I found flawed and more distorted and distended than the first. She seems not to have the greatest relationship with reality or herself, and blame everyone for this but herself. It's not until she decides to return to the farm and make sense of her childhood that it comes alive again, and leads to a really shocking and quite unforseen dénouement.
This would have been a higher score but for the extended part about Johannesburg that didn't seem to fit within the whole for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2020
Many years ago I read a review of this book, liked the sound of it and thought that I would like to read it. But it was just this past week that I recognised the title and at last bought the book and have now read it. And I am very glad that I have done so.
The theme hasn't dated and makes for compelling and engrossing reading.
I am not sure what to make of the first and last chapters - not sure that I understood them at all. This did not detract from the telling of spiritual myths and beliefs, and the story of a 7-year old child experiencing the collapse of her parents marriage, the slow mental derangement of her mother and the isolation on a rather desolate and arid farm in the old South Africa.
The theme hasn't dated and makes for compelling and engrossing reading.
I am not sure what to make of the first and last chapters - not sure that I understood them at all. This did not detract from the telling of spiritual myths and beliefs, and the story of a 7-year old child experiencing the collapse of her parents marriage, the slow mental derangement of her mother and the isolation on a rather desolate and arid farm in the old South Africa.
November 5, 2020
I love how this book perfectly depicts the mind and points of view of a seven year old child. Makes it all seem innocent to then completely shocked me and horrified me as she grew up and her memories started coming back. The fact that she had to go home for her to be healed is something i adored and made complete sense to me. The fact that when she found out the truth about her parents she became sick and relived the same type of mental state that her mother was in, all of the points of similarities between her mother kept me on my toes, fearing she might end up like her.
Absolutely adore and would love to read the book again, curious what it would be like to go through these intense emotions again, but this time knowing how it all ends...
Absolutely adore and would love to read the book again, curious what it would be like to go through these intense emotions again, but this time knowing how it all ends...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 17, 2019
I enjoyed this and admired the author's style of writing. For me, the first part - told mostly from the view of a young girl, Faith - went on a bit long and the blurb on the back was misleading and apartheid was there but really not the theme at all. The story begins on the family's northern Transvaal, drought-stricken farm. Faith's life is filled with fairies and evil spirits the subject of her mother's paintings. One day, Faith's father disappears and everything falls apart.
The second part is 11 years later and we follow Faith's new life in Johannesburg until she decides to... probably can't say this, a spoiler.
It was an enjoyable read, however. Different.
The second part is 11 years later and we follow Faith's new life in Johannesburg until she decides to... probably can't say this, a spoiler.
It was an enjoyable read, however. Different.
January 4, 2025
Quite a depressing book to be my first read of 2025, but wallowed in the misery and thoroughly enjoyed it. Written from the perspective of a small child during the break up of her parents marriage and mothers mental breakdown, Zadok does a fine job of interpreting events as Faith would have seen them. The second half of the story is from an older Faith and is perhaps less compelling but nonetheless it seems to cast out it's hooks and pull you into her mindset. I was truly caught up in the tale and can fully relate to the only reason for ever eating a gem is to keep the Tokoloshe away.
Hope I've kept that generic enough and avoided any spoilers.
Hope I've kept that generic enough and avoided any spoilers.
March 15, 2022
Note: This book contains graphic depictions of sexual assault.
Despite the strong opening, the book doesn't manage to stay the course. The timeskip that happens halfway through fractures the pacing and the second half doesn't do enough to rope me back in. The opening and ending passages are too overt and jarring; they break the flow of the book. There are some uncomfortable undertones in how the African characters are portrayed (especially the sangomas), even when taking the time period and location into account.
Despite the strong opening, the book doesn't manage to stay the course. The timeskip that happens halfway through fractures the pacing and the second half doesn't do enough to rope me back in. The opening and ending passages are too overt and jarring; they break the flow of the book. There are some uncomfortable undertones in how the African characters are portrayed (especially the sangomas), even when taking the time period and location into account.
October 15, 2023
The story's setting is the Northern Cape in South Africa. The story is excellently written with a twist in its tail towards the end.
It involves apartheid South Africa; strange beliefs of her mother and a family life turned upside down with consequences on Faith as a young girl.
A very interesting read.
It involves apartheid South Africa; strange beliefs of her mother and a family life turned upside down with consequences on Faith as a young girl.
A very interesting read.
July 21, 2024
A girl grows up on an isolated farm in South Africa. Her mother believes in "spirits" and otherworldly creatures and her father travels a lot. Her mother commits murder and is institutionalized. Skip forward to the mother's death when the daughter inherits the farm where she has to come to terms with past ghosts. Could have been better.
January 4, 2019
Didn't really click for me. Although I like the idea of gem squash being able to ward off evil... The only way anguish seems to manifest itself in Faith (and there is a lot of it) is through physical illness/affliction so the poor girl/woman is fainting and throwing up all over the place.
January 18, 2023
Adding this to the (ever-increasing, unsettlingly) list of books to do with motherhood and trauma and childhood and mythology - particularly family mythology - that I found very satisfying to read. I would say I enjoyed it but that maybe doesn’t feel like the right word for a fairly dark read.
June 17, 2018
What an unexpected great read! Well written and I found myself thinking about and realizing what actually happened in the story for a few hours after the end. Glad I found it.
Read
February 11, 2020S - South Africa
December 31, 2020
Bello, tragico e malinconico.
March 25, 2022
Read it in one sitting - it kept me turning the pages. It felt sometimes that the protagonist's inner life and experiences were a bit oblique, but they were part of the plot, so...
March 25, 2019
Really enjoyed this book about a young girl growing up on a farm in the northern transvaal in South Africa. Rachel Zadoks descriptions of the characters in the book really bring home the small town mentality of the day. A very good read, highly recommend
September 4, 2011
Brief Synopsis:
Set in Africa, told from the perspective of a child called Faith about a lonely existence within a lonelf and isolated family. Tells the tale of her childhood of which starts to deteriorate after her father leaves and her mother has a breakdown and ends up within a mental institution.
Then ten years later.....Faith's mother is dead, after having died insane within the institution and she now has the property that she used to live in belonging to her where she eventually goes back and confronts her somewhat tormented past.
Review:
I didn't finish this book. I managed to make it until my prerequisite of 50 pages (before giving up) after deciding I really couldn't take to it at all.
I opted for this on paperback swap because although it didn't seem absolutely brilliant and my exact 'cup of tea', mental breakdown part of the synopis interested me and so I went for it.
Sad to say that the book was appalling from the get go. Before chapter one, we are subjected to about 4 pages of absolute nonsensical rambling about faeries, written in such a ridiculous way it just fails to make any sense. Of which by the way, faeries have naff all to do with the plot. So why the author felt necessary to make the book start in such a stupid way I do not know..
At this stage I thought oh dear, I don't think I'm going to like this one but I continued regardless and when the chapters begun, a return to normal english was made (wahey!).
Basically it was a complete bore. It didn't seem to have any plot to speak of and it felt like a complete and utter chore to pick it up. I just didn't like it and anyone looking for a fast paced cultural book should not pick this up...its slow, with no character development (I felt absolutely nothing for any of the characters I had encountered up til I quit) and seemingly lacking in a coherent plot...
I'm keeping the review short because in essence what I read of the book was pretty short but suffice to say, I didn't like it. Didn't read well, bored the hell out of me. Onto the next book. Lifes too short.
Not recommended. And also, what the heck is with the weird title?!!
http://passionate-about-books.blogspo...
Set in Africa, told from the perspective of a child called Faith about a lonely existence within a lonelf and isolated family. Tells the tale of her childhood of which starts to deteriorate after her father leaves and her mother has a breakdown and ends up within a mental institution.
Then ten years later.....Faith's mother is dead, after having died insane within the institution and she now has the property that she used to live in belonging to her where she eventually goes back and confronts her somewhat tormented past.
Review:
I didn't finish this book. I managed to make it until my prerequisite of 50 pages (before giving up) after deciding I really couldn't take to it at all.
I opted for this on paperback swap because although it didn't seem absolutely brilliant and my exact 'cup of tea', mental breakdown part of the synopis interested me and so I went for it.
Sad to say that the book was appalling from the get go. Before chapter one, we are subjected to about 4 pages of absolute nonsensical rambling about faeries, written in such a ridiculous way it just fails to make any sense. Of which by the way, faeries have naff all to do with the plot. So why the author felt necessary to make the book start in such a stupid way I do not know..
At this stage I thought oh dear, I don't think I'm going to like this one but I continued regardless and when the chapters begun, a return to normal english was made (wahey!).
Basically it was a complete bore. It didn't seem to have any plot to speak of and it felt like a complete and utter chore to pick it up. I just didn't like it and anyone looking for a fast paced cultural book should not pick this up...its slow, with no character development (I felt absolutely nothing for any of the characters I had encountered up til I quit) and seemingly lacking in a coherent plot...
I'm keeping the review short because in essence what I read of the book was pretty short but suffice to say, I didn't like it. Didn't read well, bored the hell out of me. Onto the next book. Lifes too short.
Not recommended. And also, what the heck is with the weird title?!!
http://passionate-about-books.blogspo...
July 28, 2011
The germ of a quite brilliant book, which never quite comes off because of the weak narrative structuring. Interleaving the past and the present to a far greater extent would have been a much better way to tell the story. 7 year old Faith is just never really believable enough whereas adult Faith writing about 7 year old Faith would have worked much better. Some of the "tokoloshe" stuff is really very over-written and I wonder if the book could have worked better without that too. Anyhow this is a good story it's just that it could have been a really great one with some sympathetic (but firm) editing. Potential readers should persevere through the first few chapters: it definitely gets better. (As chapter 15 and 16 the first 2 would have worked far better, as it is they are going to put a lot of people off. I very nearly was.)
January 20, 2012
My best friend really owned the book. I just begged to have it instead. She doesn't get it anyway.
Like the blurb says, it IS haunting. I suppose I can say it's almost like magic realism, except the magic and the realism are separated in sections in both the narrator's childhood and her adulthood. EXCEPT in the parts where myth and real life sort of seeps into each other.
Ok, so that's too vague, but I doubt I'd have liked it if some idiot reviewer spoiled this for me and I didn't get to discover this book myself. Go forth and do the same.
FYI, my best friend isn't a book devourer as bad as I am, but I've taught her well on how to buy books. She bought this because it won its publishing contract from a contest that invited unpublished authors to send the first chapter of their novel, AND it was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award.
Like the blurb says, it IS haunting. I suppose I can say it's almost like magic realism, except the magic and the realism are separated in sections in both the narrator's childhood and her adulthood. EXCEPT in the parts where myth and real life sort of seeps into each other.
Ok, so that's too vague, but I doubt I'd have liked it if some idiot reviewer spoiled this for me and I didn't get to discover this book myself. Go forth and do the same.
FYI, my best friend isn't a book devourer as bad as I am, but I've taught her well on how to buy books. She bought this because it won its publishing contract from a contest that invited unpublished authors to send the first chapter of their novel, AND it was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award.
May 9, 2011
Interesting. If you decide to read this book, take the dust jacket blurb with an ocean of salt. This book is more a study in self-inflicted psychosis (in the case of the mother) and parent-inflicted psychosis (in the case of the daughter) than about apartheid South Africa. I enjoyed the story mostly because I kept likening Bella's faerie obsession to my own crazy mother's daemon delusions. If I was in a new relationship trying to explain myself and my childhood influences (i.e. how I got this way), Part I of this book is the first book I'd have them read, followed immediately by Snowcrash. And that's all I have to say about that. :-)
August 13, 2011
Rachel Zadok wishes that she had been born 40 years earlier so that she could be a Nadine Gordimer or soneone like that. She says that South African writers have to carry on writing about apartheid and angst and drama.
I enjoyed the first half of the novel. Her mother fascinated me. The second half was Rachel Zadock in disguise. Faith, the daughter, has to come to terms with her mothers neuroses . She begins a voyage of self-discovery after a tragedy on the farm. Rachel Zadok's talent is that she uses words and imagery to good effect.
Otherwise, it's rather boring.
I enjoyed the first half of the novel. Her mother fascinated me. The second half was Rachel Zadock in disguise. Faith, the daughter, has to come to terms with her mothers neuroses . She begins a voyage of self-discovery after a tragedy on the farm. Rachel Zadok's talent is that she uses words and imagery to good effect.
Otherwise, it's rather boring.
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