Cry, the Beloved Country

Set in the troubled South Africa of the 1940s, this is the deeply moving story of a Zulu pastor, his son, and a land and a people riven by racial injustice. Passionately African, yet timeless and universal, it is a work of searing beauty. From Publishers Weekly In search of missing family members, Zulu priest Stephen Kumalo leaves his South African village to traverse the deep and perplexing city of Johannesburg in the 1940s. With his sister turned prostitute, his brother turned labor protestor and his son, Absalom, arrested for the murder of a white man, Kumalo must grapple with how to bring his family back from the brink of destruction as the racial tension throughout Johannesburg hampers his attempts to protect his family. With a deep yet gentle voice rounded out by his English accent, Michael York captures the tone and energy of this novel. His rhythmic narration proves hypnotizing. From the fierce love of Kumalo to the persuasive rhetoric of Kumalo's brother and the solemn regret of Absalom, York injects soul into characters tempered by their socioeconomic status as black South Africans. (May) Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review "The greatest novel to emerge out of the tragedy of South Africa, and one of the best novels of our time." -- The New Republic ( UNKNOWN ) "A beautiful novel, rich, firm and moving . . ." -- The New York Times ( New York Times )