On my bookshelves I have two copies of this wonderful novel by Alan Paton. One copy, because it’s so special I will keep it forever and the second, because I may weaken and loan out the first.

The book is about a father’s search for his wayward son in a country riven through with racial injustice. Published in 1948 at the start of the apartheid era, and written by a white South African, Cry, The Beloved Country is consider by some to be the greatest South African novel ever written. It’s very name evokes everything you hope it will be. And it delivers.

The writing is poetic in its lyrical beauty, full of profound observations about humanity that you want to read. Yet running through the book is the story of a father’s search for his lost child in the hidden corners of Johannesburg. Where is his son, Absalom?

It is a riveting book. Whole passages and entire scenes compel you to follow in their rich stream of words.

Paton’s writing style is unusual. There is no ‘he said’, ‘she said’, or quotation marks. Dialogue is preceded only by long dashes, but at no point is the reader lost or left wondering who is speaking. Conversations are polite, respectful and considered, full of compassion and kindness (white and black), of longing, of fear and regret. And of hope.

If you love Africa, if you want to learn more about Africa, if you want to try to understand the apartheid era or more about our human condition, I urge you to read this book.