by André Brink
First published 1976
Adam faces an impossible choice in 1749 South Africa. His master orders him to flog his own mother for refusing to work during her beloved mother's funeral. When Adam refuses, his master strikes him with wood. Adam fights back, nearly killing the man, then flees into the vast veld. There he discovers Elizabeth, the sole survivor of her husband's failed expedition into the interior. Alone and desperate, she begs the fugitive slave to guide her back to Cape Town. Adam agrees, believing that rescuing a white woman will earn him his freedom. Their journey across the dangerous wilderness becomes something neither expected. Two people from opposite sides of colonial society must depend on each other to survive. As they travel together through the unforgiving landscape, they discover their shared humanity. What begins as a desperate alliance slowly transforms into something deeper and more tender.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, african-literature, adventure, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Cape Town, South Africa
Period: 1749
250 pages · Hardcover · W. H. Allen
Content warnings: slavery, violence