Unmaking Grace
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Catalyst Books
Published:23rd Jan '20
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Family secrets run deep for Grace, a young girl growing up in Cape Town during the 1980s. Her family secrets spill over into adulthood, and threaten to ruin the respectable life she has built for herself.
When an old childhood friend emerges after disappearing a decade earlier during a clash with apartheid riot police in the Cape Flats, where South Africa’s coloured community makes its home, Grace’s memories of her childhood come rushing back, and she is confronted, once again, with the loss that has shaped her. She has to face up to the truth or continue to live a lie—but the choice is not straightforward. Unmaking Grace is an intimate portrayal of violence, both personal and political, and its legacy on one person’s life. It meditates on the long shadow cast by personal trauma, showing the inter-generational imprint of violence and loss on people’s lives.
"The novel creates drama while confronting intersecting systemic oppressions and intergenerational trauma by foregrounding its characters' needs, wants, wounds, and aspirations. The prose is taut with both clarity and complexity. A smart, compassionate portrayal of one woman's quest to end the cycle of violence." —Kirkus Reviews
- Winner of Debut Prize, 2017 University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African writing 2018 (South Africa)
- Long-listed for Sunday Times (South Africa) Literary Award 2018 (South Africa)
ISBN: 9781946395238
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
240 pages