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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
A murder and its legal consequences; violence in the context of apartheid
Language
Barely any
Mild language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Brief references to prostitution in the city
Substance Use
None
No significant substance use
Emotional Intensity
A lot
A profound and aching portrait of racial injustice, fatherly love, and the cost of systemic oppression
What this book is about
The Reverend Stephen Kumalo travels to Johannesburg to find his sister, his brother, and his son. His son Absalom has murdered a white man — the son of the man who might have been Kumalo's most powerful advocate. Alan Paton's 1948 novel is an act of moral witness against the apartheid system and a lament for a country destroying its own future.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
A young man's execution for murder
Depictions of apartheid's destruction of Black family life
The moral weight of racial injustice
Reader Verification
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