Helpful Score: 1
This was a tough read! To say the text was allusive at times, would be an understatement, but I hung in there and pushed myself to read on. The story takes place in South Africa where a white woman, Milla, takes in an abused and sickly black girl to nurse her to health. Eventually, this girl, Agaat, becomes the woman's servant, then as years go on, her caregiver, because Milla is dying from a terrible disease. Much of the book is written in diary form and in the eyes of Milla. Trying to communicate with Agaat when she was young and terribly abused, certainly pays off when Milla can no longer speak because of her illness. These two women are incredibly close but filled with conflicting feelings toward each other. Of course, class has much to do with their strained relationship. I was incredibly impressed in the way the author relates the thoughts and feelings of someone with ALS. This is a difficult book, but truly brilliant.
Very well written book on a difficult topic. The complexity of the relationship between the two main characters (white farm owner and girl/woman she raised but who is also a maid/slave) is revealed more and more deeply as the book goes on. I think anyone interested in South Africa, and in particular apartheid, will find this interesting.
