A compelling coming of age story with an unlikely and utterly memorable heroine, Child of the River is a timeless tale of heartbreak and triumph set in South Africa at the dawn of apartheid. Persomi is young, white, and poor, born the middle child of illiterate sharecroppers on the prosperous Fourie farm in the South African Bushveld. Persomi’s world is extraordinarily small. She has never been to the local village and spends her days absorbed in the rhythms of the natural world around her, escaping the brutality and squalor of her family home through the newspapers and books passed down to her from the main house and through her walks in the nearby mountains. Persomi’s close relationship with her older brother Gerbrand and her fragile friendship with Boelie Fourie—heir to the Fourie farm and fortune—are her lifeline and her only connection to the outside world. When Gerbrand leaves the farm to fight on the side of the Anglos in WWII and Boelie joins an underground network of Boer nationalists, Persomi’s isolated world is blown wide open. But as her very small world falls apart, bigger dreams become open to her—dreams of an education, a profession, a native country that values justice and equality, and of love. As Persomi navigates the changing world around her—the tragedies of war and the devastating racial strife of her homeland—she finally discovers who she truly is, where she belongs, and why her life—and every life—matters.
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**** Heads Up! There May Be Potential Spoilers In The Review Below!! ****
Persomi is the middle child of poor, white, illiterate sharecroppers in South Africa. Finding a love for stories early on in life, Persomi learns to read, losing herself in the books and newspapers she finds in the main house of the farm where her parents work. Persomi also begins to learn something of the rest of the world during tutoring sessions she shares with Irene and Boelie Fourie, the children of the farm owners. While Irene and Persomi have a bit of a grudging acceptance of each other, Irene's brother, Boelie, and Persomi become fast friends in no time. Persomi also has a strong bond with her older brother, Gerbrand. Gerbrand is very protective of his younger sister, especially around the fierce, sometimes explosively violent tempers of their father, Lewies, and their brother, Piet.
That evening Gerbrand said, "Don't slink after me like a sly jackal. If you want to come along, come. If you want to stay, stay. You're a human being with a head on your shoulders, Persomi. It's not just there to keep your ears apart."
Years pass, the children grow up and World War 2 comes to everyone's doorstep. Gerbrand decides to enlist, while Boelie finds himself pulled in the other direction, throwing his hat in with an underground group of Boer nationalists (who were against Africa's involvement in the war). This underground nationalist group participates in some dangerous, extreme methods of protesting, whether it be cutting telephone lines, de-railing trains carrying supplies for soldiers, or blowing up anything that would aid the war effort. Persomi uncomfortably finds herself caught in the middle of the two men she loves most in the world.
As her mind and body mature into that of a young woman, so do her dreams of a proper education, a yearning for a gripping romance that leads to deep love, and a desire to fight for peace, justice and equality for all races / tribes in her little corner of the world. Dedicating herself to her vision, Persomi finds a way to put herself through law school. Thanks in large part to her friendship with Indian merchant (later medical student) Yusuf, Persomi becomes acutely interested in equal rights activism. One college assignment requires her to write a paper on a law either in the works or newly established, so Persomi decides to write something on the Asiatic Land Tenure & Indian Representation Act. She is shocked to discover her professor chooses to grade her lowly for her opinion (which he disagrees with). He even goes so far as to comment that the thoughts she expresses "border on Communism"! Persomi starts to get the impression that lawmakers might be crafting these laws for selfish means, her suspicions fueled by the realization that any argument she makes against these laws gets her the labels of "communist" or "revolutionary".
The days and the weeks and the minutes dropped into a black hole. If she worked hard enough, ran far enough, showered quickly enough, and washed her clothes daily, she didn’t hear the desperate cries of the minutes and the seconds.
But the night became a menace.
At the bottom of the darkness lay a pain that gripped her, a loneliness that kept her chained to the bottom. Because at night the memories came unbidden. And with the memories came the longing, harsher every time, and more painful.
She had never hurt so much, or been so alone....
She walked slowly to her mountain, to her cave. She knew the way, knew every stone and every tuft of grass and every crevice.
She had known the cold would come. The cold night was more bearable than the cold fire burning her up from the inside, freezing her.
She rolled into a ball. Nothing eased the black pain that was everywhere. The broken moon limped through the dark sky.
Not only that, she also soon finds that the Land Tenure Act, along with the Group Areas Act will prove to be one of the biggest fights of her life. All this right before the idea of apartheid is gearing up to take off. But Persomi won't be silenced. She stands up for what she believes in. She continues to speak out against the utter wrongness of the Acts, which put restrictions on where South African's Asian citizens would be allowed to live or run businesses, regardless of whether they owned the land outright or not. In one instance, when one family protests the Acts (as they are being affected directly) Persomi is the only one willing to argue their case in court, all the while having to dodge Boelie's urgings that she drop the fight (as he's in favor of the segregation; in fact, even Persomi's very best friend, Renier, makes statements that even he would be in favor of black and Indian mine workers being placed in reservation camps!)... the one major hurtle to their friendship they constantly struggle to build a bridge across. This becomes even more the tug-o-war once Boelie is named leader of the National Party.
I do sometimes regret things I've said or done. But more often I've regretted things I didn't say or do."
Author Irma Joubert was a history teacher for 35 years before becoming a novelist and that clearly plays well into her historical fiction books (this being only the second to be released in English, though she is widely published in South Africa and the Netherlands). That said, the war element was more of a background feature in this particular story... at least when compared to The Girl From The Train (her first book released in English, also with a WW2 theme). Though maybe more of a background feature, the war still makes its presence known to these characters. Inspired by true events, the tale Joubert crafts here is one of grit, perseverance, resiliency, and an unshakeable belief in the power of faith and love in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Joubert's way of building her environments creates a lush reading experience, infused with the most tactile sights & sounds -- you can practically smell the grass and mud, feel the wind on your own skin! In this world we meet realistic characters doing their best to push through the most heartbreaking hardships.
When compared to Joubert's earlier release, The Girl From The Train, I noticed not only a similar time frame and a connection to South Africa as the one found in Child of the River, but I also saw some distinct similarities between the relationship seen in Train's two main characters, Gretl & Jacob and that felt between River's Persomi & Boelie. Hard to decide which story I preferred, they were both so good! While I think I savored the physical environment of Child of the River a bit more, I think I favored the relationship of Train's Gretl & Jacob over Persomi & Boelie.
POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNING: Persomi's father, Lewies, is an alcoholic who beats his wife and older children; it's also hinted that he may have sexually assaulted one of his daughters.
FTC Disclaimer: TNZ Fiction Guild kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book with a request that I might check it out and share my thoughts. The opinions above are entirely my own.
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