by André Brink
First published 1980
Ben Du Toit lives a quiet life as an Afrikaner schoolteacher until his gardener's son dies in police custody. The authorities claim suicide, but the family knows better. What begins as a simple gesture of sympathy transforms into something far more dangerous. Ben starts asking questions that no white man in 1970s South Africa should ask. He collects witness statements, visits morgues, and documents evidence that contradicts the official story. Each step deeper into his investigation isolates him further from his community, his colleagues, and eventually his own family. The police take notice. Anonymous threats arrive. Friends warn him to stop digging. When Ben realizes the danger has become real, he passes his collected evidence to a trusted friend, ensuring the truth will survive even if he does not. This is the story of an ordinary man who discovers that moral outrage can be more powerful than political conviction, and more costly than he ever imagined.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, african-literature, political-thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: isolation, moral-dilemma, ordinary-hero
Setting: South Africa
Period: 1970s
320 pages · Paperback · Stoddart+publishing
Content warnings: death, racism