Set in nineteenth-century rural Africa, Fiela's Child tells the
gripping story of Fiela Komoetie and a white, three-year old child,
Benjamin, whom she finds crying on her doorstep. For nine years Fiela
raises Benjamin as one of her own children. But when census takers
discover Benjamin, they send him to an illiterate white family of
woodcutters who claim him as their son. What follows is Benjamin's
search for his identity and the fundamental changes affecting the white
and black families who claim him.
Everything a novel can be: convincing, thought-provoking, upsetting,
unforgettable, and timeless.--Grace Ingoldby, New Statesman
Fiela's Child is a parade that broadens and humanizes our
understanding of the conflicts still affecting South Africa
today.--Francis Levy, New York Times Book Review
A powerful creation of time and place with dark threads of destiny and
oppression and its roots in the almost Biblical soil of a storyteller's
art.--Christopher Wordsworth, The Guardian
The characters in the novel live and breathe; and the landscape is so
brightly painted that the trees, birds, elephants, and rivers of old
South Africa are characters themselves. A book not to miss.--Kirkus
Reviews