Wan

by Dawn Promislow

Narrated in a completely distinctive and mesmerizing voice, Wan is the story of Jacqueline, a privileged artist in 1970s South Africa. After an anti-apartheid activist comes to hide in her garden house, Jacqueline’s carefully constructed life begins to unravel.

Written in gorgeous and spare prose, this exquisite debut novel grapples with questions of complicity and guilt, of privilege, and the immeasurable value of art and life.

Shortlisted for the Fred Kerner Book Award 2023

A Miramichi Reader Best Fiction of 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction, Book Club, Fiction, Canada, Africa

230 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2022

Reviews

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It borders on poetry, and I'm allergic to poetry...but I shouldn't have worried. This little novel is a beautifully constructed mediation on guilt and regret, that manages to encompass a huge political and social canvass by being small and tightly intimate. It reminds me of the work of Carol Shields -- it feels gentle and harmless, but below the surface lies fathoms of depth.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dawn Promislow’s slow burning novel, Wan, takes the reader back to apartheid-era South Africa. It is 1972. Jacqueline, an artist—a painter—is a white woman living a comfortable life in suburban Johannesburg with her husband, Howard, a partner in a law firm dealing primarily in corporate law. Jacqueline and Howard have two children, Helena and Stephen. They employ three black workers to perform the household chores. The family is privileged and prosperous. Jacqueline and Howard are also painfully aware that South Africa’s social structure is based on a grotesque injustice, and despite living under a system that favours them because of their skin colour, their political sympathies are emphatically at odds with the country’s authoritarian ruling party. But other than treating their hired help well, there is little they can do. The penalty for dissent is severe, and with government informants everywhere, speaking out will only make them targets for the police. So, like many white South Africans who opposed apartheid, they resist in silence and keep their moral objections to themselves. Then, early in the novel, they are presented with an opportunity to aid the cause in a real way. Howard’s law partner, who has contacts within the ANC (African National Congress), needs to safeguard an anti-apartheid activist who is wanted by police and asks Jacqueline and Howard to provide the man with temporary sanctuary. Joseph Weiss moves into a small building at the rear of their property that they’d been using to store household odds and ends, and in so doing sets off a chain of events that ultimately renders Jacqueline and Howard’s life in South Africa untenable. Fifty years later, Jacqueline, widowed and living in New York, unburdens herself, narrating an account of those months of Joseph’s tenancy, telling us, “I’m too old to hold on to this story any more. So I’m going to tell it to you.” Wan recounts an exquisitely suspenseful tale of searing guilt, moral ambivalence, misplaced trust, and heart-rending honesty. Promislow relates Jacqueline’s story in crystalline prose, using a contemplative voice tinged with weary resignation that pulls the reader in and doesn’t let go until the final pages. Promislow is patient and thoughtful, and she expects the same of her reader. The story is deliberately paced. Details and events accumulate gradually, ramping up the stakes and building tension to an excruciating level. The book provides a quick, compulsive read, but the rewards of this vividly imagined, elegantly crafted novel are many. With Wan, Dawn Promislow establishes herself as a bracing, shining talent. Readers of this, her second book and first novel, will be eagerly anticipating her next.

[Suze · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a riveting story of guilt, moral uncertainty and heart-rending honesty of a privileged white couple who live in Johannesburg with their two children. They are committed anti-apartheidists, recognizing the injustice of South Africa’s political system. An anti-apartheid activist asks them to provide a man wanted by police with temporary hiding and he moves into a shed at the rear of their property. The protagonist's carefully constructed life begins to unravel, building tension.
Wan is starkly written and leaves the reader brooding: a moody read. It is a mediation on guilt and regret that encompasses a large political and social canvass – it feels gentle, but below the surface it lies deep.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I see that most readers give this book at least 4 stars and think it is beautifully written. I think the "slow" in the author's name portrays this book best. I understand what she was trying to convey but I thought it was boring. Nothing ever seemed to happen or change until 90% of the book had been read. I felt the main character, Jaqueline, was insipid. I did not think she was either a good wife, good mother, good artist, a good daughter or a good friend. If anything, she was selfish and self absorbed. After having written the above I think the author did a better job than I first gave her credit for. She actually did get Jaqueline's personality across and perhaps did it well via the meandering prose.

[Lisa Nikolits · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wan is, to my mind, a perfect novel. Achingly good, it says everything that needs to be said, and perhaps everything that can be said, about apartheid South Africa. The brush strokes are exquisitely detailed and the artwork on the canvas is filled with nuances, without any excess drama, while painting the situation with a clarity that cuts straight to the bone.

I can't recommend it highly enough.

[Mindy Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touching , engaging multi layered novel. The characters will remain with you long after you put down the book. A must read.

[Lorna E. Rourke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t expect to like this book. The writing style was strange, and the skipping around from past to present is not usually something I enjoy. But I loved this book. I found it so compelling. I could barely put it down. And I cried hard at the end.
So much of the story is relatable—regrets, aging, motherhood.
I also learned about South Africa, and I’m grateful for that.

[Carol Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn’t put this one down- mostly because of the well crafted and unusual writing style. It was like sitting next to the protagonist in the living room listening to her tell me this interesting story. It was quite compelling, but my only criticism is that I didn’t really like her-at all. She was so self-centered, not much of a wife, not much of a mom, not much of a friend, not much of an artist….but she conjured up a great story anyway. I will be thinking of it for a long while.

[J.J. Dupuis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wan is an experience, something to be felt and absorbed, rather than just "read." Dawn Promislow's novel about a painter living in apartheid South Africa is constructed very much like the paintings it describes, brushstroke by brushstroke, allowing the reader to step back and see the artists vision as the book progresses.
It's remarkable how, from a first-person narration, Promislow shows us the narrator's privilege, how much they understand and how much they don't. She manages to create certain boundaries that we the reader can see even if Jacqueline, the protagonist, is unaware of them. This is just one of the brilliantly-executed facets of wan that demonstrate Promislow's skill and talent. The prose are beautiful and poetic and the story lingers in the mind like a memory after the book is done.
If I didn't know that this was a debut novel, I'd have bet that the author was a master at the height of their powers. But knowing what i know, I look forward to seeing how Promislow evolves and can't wait to see what she gives us next.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written. Main character tells her story of living in South Africa. She skillfully tells of not really knowing or asking about their two African servants personal lives, She tells of the man who came to hide in their garden in a shed. He was fighting for the independence of the African people. When he is caught by the police and imprisoned, she secretly believes she is the one who betrayed him. She had told a friend living in England. I felt frustrated as a reader as I wanted this belief to be clarified before the end of the book.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, I felt the retelling of the life of a privileged but not entirely oblivious white South African woman painted a vivid picture of everyday realities in a class and race based society. Her observations as an artist were full of sensory detail.
But the writing style, particularly the repetition of phrases, incomplete sentences and over-sprinkling of commas, began to interfere with the flow of the narrative. “Joseph eating, eating as he listened, listened.”
If the author’s intention was to write in the voice of a batty old woman recalling her glory days, it was somewhat successful.

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wan by Dawn Promislow

Debut novel by South African author, now living in Canada. This is told from first person point of view of a privileged white woman painter living with her corporate lawyer husband in 1970's Johannasberg. The couple is anit-aparthied and aid in the 'fight' by hiding white activist, Joseph, who is working with the resistance. Jaqueline Kline narrates from her apartment in New York city some fifty years later - unburdening herself of her 'story'. Sometimes she speaks with weary resignation. The p[rose is spare - simple sentences with much repition. She seems to float at times from Africa to present and back. Things touch her off, are interconnected in her mind. She says little about her husband Howard, no passion there. She's obsessed with Josph. Beneath her calm voice, there is mounting political prssure, and rising sexual tension. Sometimes it's difficult to tell if she is dreaming or Joseph has some interest in her. At the end of the novel we learn of why she feels so guilty. Some secrets need to be secrets. It's not a book I would have chosen but read for my book club and relatively quickly.

[Steph Raph · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story sounded so interesting: a white family in South America during the 1960s/1970s during apartheid. In reality, it was mundane. The big reveal that kept me going, wasn't much of a reveal. It was also one of those books where the author didn't use quotation marks when people spoke. And the main character, the author, kept repeating everything. Ex: I went to the room, the room. I guess it was supposed to be that way to express how mentally unstable the character was, but it made for a broken flow when reading. I guess mundane stories also are supposed to show you how life is pretty plain. It just wasn't the book for me.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a beautifully written atmospheric read! In a time and place I was unfamiliar with. Wan is the story of Jacqueline, a privileged artist in 1970s South Africa. After an anti-apartheid activist comes to hide in her garden house, Jacqueline’s carefully constructed life begins to unravel. This novel grapples with questions of complicity and guilt, of privilege, and of the immeasurable value of art and of life. I received a copy from the publisher, opinions are my own.

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[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This beautifully constructed novel tells the story of Jacqueline, an artist, living in South Africa in the early 1970s. Her husband agrees to hide an anti-Apartheid activist in a small building at the back of their property. Jacqueline comes from a privileged background, lives in luxury and has several Black servants. Her world begins to unravel with concern over harbouring a fugitive. When he is arrested, she has to learn to live with her guilt.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting novel set during the time immediately prior to the overthrow of apartheid in South Africa. The first person narrator is a while, privileged woman.
I found the style used to portray her situation and the country's state heavy fisted, and lacking subtlety.
However, a good book overall, and certainly an eye into that 1970's world.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

WAN

An absolutely brilliant, mesmerizing book - about life in Africa as a white person, as an artist, as an activist, as a dreamer, as a striver, as an employer, as a worker, as a family - just so many facets, so many challenges, so much food for thought. A must-read book and a wonderful way to learn about a specific aspect of history.
Thank you, Dawn Promislow - I am very grateful to you.

[Leslie Levine Adler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful book to read with prose that were taut, clear and achingly free of elaboration. It describes a time frame in South Africa when fear was in the air even while Whites were experiencing an idyllic lifestyle. The irony in this book is painful and a reminder of how we can be complicit in injustice in the most unintentional ways.

[Gisela · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautifully written book -- haunting, mesmerizing, compulsively readable. I literally couldn't put it down. Jacqueline's "voice" drew me in immediately and never let go, not even after I'd finished reading the book. This one will definitely stay with me for a long time. Highly recommended.

[Francine Kopun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Promislow’s writing is exquisite — fresh and poetic.
Author Antanas Sileika captured it best: The atmosphere in this powerful novel is the literary equivalent of the highly charged atmosphere you feel before a storm.

[Susan Visser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haunting, especially for the absences.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the voice of Jacqueline. Reminded me of Meryl Streep in Out of Africa.
Lots of tension just below the surface.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the style of writing and how real it felt. I didn't feel terribly attached to the characters, but it was still a very good read.

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning work of historical fiction. I often don’t like main characters that begin and end as quite stagnant and stuck in many ways but I found the characterization of Jacqueline so precise and tender that I loved her anyways. I wasn’t sure if she really like her husband or kids tho? The symbols, imagery, and literary threads were consistent and delicate throughout the book. I thought the author captured well the damaging and nuanced grappling between self-security and support of a greater cause—especially from the perspective of the hyper privileged.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I share my thoughts on this novel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiyKb...