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A review by english_lady03
Child of the River by Irma Joubert
3.0
I picked this book for one main reason. Its set in South Africa, the land of my birth (ah, you thought I was entirely British, didn't you?). It was a good story, and the characters were wonderful: Persomi (what a lovely name!), was an incredibly strong and resilient character who developed a lot on the course of the story, and learned to stick up for what was right through the friendships and relationships formed in the course of her lifetime.
Nor is this Saccharin sweet Christian Fiction: the characters are realistically flawed, very flawed, and some very disturbing things happened, as do go on in real life. The course of love and life does not run smoothly for all the characters, as their life stories weave into each other, as told from the perspective of the heroine.
Yet, whilst this was worth the read, there was something that bugged me throughout the story. Although my family was British emigrants to South Africa and not Afrikaans, I grew up with some knowledge of certain terms and phrases, and the culture of the land. Which makes me conclude that this book did not quite 'feel' South African enough. Yes, the landscape, geography flora and fauna were right, and the details about history, even some of the attitudes.
However, this book was clearly translated with an American audience in mind: which resulted in the use of frequent Americanisms which seemed really out of place. They don't tend to talk about school 'vacations', 'recess' changing 'diapers' or visiting the local 'store'.
I'd like to have seen more actual Afrikaans words. And perhaps more exploration of how certain laws and groups impacted people. For example, I really had a problem with how Boelli, Persomi's best friend and the love of her life, was basically a vile racist, who joined a group with Nazi affiliations during the war. I can understand how as a naive teenager she did not seem to have a problem with it and felt sorry for him when he was arrested, but he never seemed to renounce those ideas (though he left the group), which were at odds with her later stance against Apartheid. They say love is blind, and in that case, I think it really was.
Nor is this Saccharin sweet Christian Fiction: the characters are realistically flawed, very flawed, and some very disturbing things happened, as do go on in real life. The course of love and life does not run smoothly for all the characters, as their life stories weave into each other, as told from the perspective of the heroine.
Yet, whilst this was worth the read, there was something that bugged me throughout the story. Although my family was British emigrants to South Africa and not Afrikaans, I grew up with some knowledge of certain terms and phrases, and the culture of the land. Which makes me conclude that this book did not quite 'feel' South African enough. Yes, the landscape, geography flora and fauna were right, and the details about history, even some of the attitudes.
However, this book was clearly translated with an American audience in mind: which resulted in the use of frequent Americanisms which seemed really out of place. They don't tend to talk about school 'vacations', 'recess' changing 'diapers' or visiting the local 'store'.
I'd like to have seen more actual Afrikaans words. And perhaps more exploration of how certain laws and groups impacted people. For example, I really had a problem with how Boelli, Persomi's best friend and the love of her life, was basically a vile racist, who joined a group with Nazi affiliations during the war. I can understand how as a naive teenager she did not seem to have a problem with it and felt sorry for him when he was arrested, but he never seemed to renounce those ideas (though he left the group), which were at odds with her later stance against Apartheid. They say love is blind, and in that case, I think it really was.