The Bookish Wombat's Reviews > Absolution

Clare Wald is a South African author coming to the end of her life who has agreed to be involved in the writing of her biography. It is to be written by Sam Leroux, a fellow South African now returning to the country of his birth after some years' absence. Revisiting the past brings up old secrets for both of them and they must be truthful with themselves about the part they played in disturbing events.

This novel has four different narrative strands, which makes things complicated at times, especially when the strands contradict each other. There are several mysteries in the book, but one main mystery is examined from different points of view and the events connected to it are re-told in a number of different ways. However, the events seem to be less important than what the characters think about them, and it is a novel in which the characters think much more than they say. I found this more than a little frustrating as it meant getting to the truth about what happened was impossible.

I felt that the complex structure was a hindrance rather than a help to the book, but that the detail with which the characters were described almost made up for this. But although the reader is let into what the characters think, I was left with a niggling sense that they might not be being truthful, even to themselves, so perhaps what they tell us isn't wholly reliable. In short, they're human and we have to make up our minds about them from the available evidence.

I didn't feel a sense of resolution when I got to the end of the book and felt that the end was quite weak compared to the build up of the bulk of the novel. However, I found it an interesting character portrait of how people react in unimaginable circumstances and a detailed study of post-apartheid South Africa.