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Fiela se kind
First published 1988 · 464 pages
A heart-wrenching exploration of identity and maternal love set against the unforgiving beauty of the 19th-century South African landscape.
What it feels like
Reading this novel feels like walking through the dense, shadowed Knysna Forest and emerging into the harsh, blinding light of the Lange Kloof. It is a deeply atmospheric and emotionally devastating experience that roots you in the soil of 19th-century South Africa. The narrative moves with a steady, inevitable weight, pulling you through a heart-wrenching exploration of what truly makes a family. The prose is unpretentious but rich with sensory detail, capturing both the majesty of the natural world and the ugly realities of systemic prejudice. It will profoundly move readers who gravitate toward sweeping, character-driven historical fiction where the landscape is as much a character as the people, and where the search for identity is a matter of survival.
- Mood
- earthy
- melancholic
- tense
- atmospheric
- heart-wrenching
- Tone
- earnest
- compassionate
- indignant
- reflective
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- the meaning of family · racial injustice · search for identity · maternal devotion · nature's indifference · systemic cruelty
- The writing
- Unadorned yet deeply evocative, rooting its emotional power in the harsh, beautiful landscapes of the South African wilderness.
- The arc
- Moves from a warm, grounded sense of belonging into agonizing separation and confusion, culminating in a hard-won, bittersweet reclamation of self.
- Who it's for
- Readers who appreciate sweeping, emotionally devastating historical fiction that grapples with identity, injustice, and the unbreakable bonds of chosen family.
Content notes
- child separation
- racial prejudice
- emotional abuse
- animal death
- systemic injustice
About the book
God vergewe ons baie, maar God vergewe ons nie die kwaad wat ons ́n kind aandoen nie.
Aan die een kant van die berg, in die Lange Kloof, woon Fiela Komoetie, verknog aan haar hanskind – deur die Here aan haar ‘toebetrou’ een nag toe sy hom as driejarige gekry het waar hy voor haar deur staan en huil, ́n weggooilam. Aan die ander kant van die berg, in die Bos, woon die houtkapper Elias van Rooyen en sy vrou Barta, wie se driejarige kind weggeraak het.
Die een kind is Benjamin Komoetie, die ander Lukas van Rooyen. Is dit dieselfde mens? Kon ́n klein kind so ver geloop het, uit die Bos tot in die Lange Kloof? Dié vraag word nege jaar later oopgekrap deur twee sensusmanne wat deur die Lange Kloof reis en die wit kind met die blou oë tussen die bruinmense kry.
En jare later is dit die vraag wat Benjamin/Lukas self vra: Wie is ek? Hy móét weet, anders kan die vrou wat hy liefgekry het nooit syne wees nie. Die antwoord is daar, weet hy: iewers in homself, diep verskuil in die verlede, bly dit hom ontwyk.
Description from Open Library.
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