This story of race, family, and other “ties that bind” is a product of its environment – South Africa around the end of apartheid – as much as it is a story of universal human nature. Told from multiple perspectives, it represents the hard work of reconciliation in a culture divided by so many ephemeral things like ethnicity or skin color. It is also a story about real horrors also dividing us like sexual abuse, physical abuse, murder, and chronic dishonesty. In one sense, this story could only have taken place in South Africa; in another, this story tragically repeats itself everywhere.
This story’s time period straddles the first nationwide vote in South Africa. An orphaned young lady, raised by her grandmother, has a neat-and-tidy picture of herself that begins to unravel by the complexities of circumstance. Her family has been trying to paint over her personal story for years with simplistic half-truths. Now, with a new romantic relationship perhaps giving newfound security, those stories seem flat. The ensuing adventure – spanning multiple continents – brings her to a more accurate understanding of her origins, but only through suicide and brokenness.
This story narrates how violent and oppressive all human history is. It also exemplifies how oppressive relationships demean both the oppressed and the oppressors and prohibit both from reaching their true human potential. Like the protagonist’s personal stories, the tales of a neat-and-tidy elite overclass become mere myths as readers come to see tragedy as an integral part of the human experience. In this way, this story reflects racial and class struggle within the country of South Africa. Whites, “coloureds” of mixed race, and Blacks all play a role in the social drama in this book – and in the country.
Parts of this narration seem to fall into fantasy and even allegory. Although the technique of multiple narrators shows a bit of literary sophistication, this makes the story confusing at times. Further, the action-packed parts of the story lack the intrigue and suspense that readers expect in mysteries. van Niekerk is clearly better when writing about the resolution of long-standing family enmity rather than hot drama. The general framework of the story still holds together and kept my attention despite these shortcomings.
Overall, this book will find a welcoming audience in a world (and an America) that has been made more aware of additional need for racial reconciliation. The case of South African reconciliation needs further examination as a historical template for truthful reconciliation, and van Niekerk’s exploration can plan a facilitating role in this discussion. As made clear in this book, this topic spans multiple generations and requires deep introspection and dialogue. It is not simple, and not everyone is up to the work. Nonetheless, this book can provide us with some fodder to start exposing our own imprisoned inner lives to each other.
A Conspiracy of Mothers: A Novel
By Colleen van Niekerk
Copyright (c) 2021
Little A
ISBN13 9781542023849
Page Count: 337
Genre: Fiction-Stories
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