A review by macloo
July's People by Nadine Gordimer

5.0

Not an easy book to read, because it was natural for me to identify with Maureen, a woman who — with her husband and their three children — is rescued from a violent revolution by the family's black servant of 15 years. July, the now-former servant, shelters them in his village, some hours distant from their suburban home. The family is entirely dependent on July, and the role reversal raises so many issues not only about apartheid in South Africa but about race relations and class relations everywhere.

I was less unsettled during the second half of this very short novel than I was while reading the first half. That was probably because Maureen and her children have somewhat adapted to their new situation by then. Her husband, however, is so much a fish out of water, he just doesn't know how to feel. He does useful things, like hunt and fish and build a water retention system for the village, but he's constantly on edge. Maureen tries to integrate herself with the women in the village, but it's clear they don't want her. They tolerate her only because July has brought her and her family, but they don't want to accept her. She will always be an alien to them.

I would recommend this book to just about anyone, anywhere, but expect to be challenged by the story and to feel conflicting emotions while reading.