The Other Side of Silence

"Brink blends history with invention and African myth . . . This bloody fable, rooted in bloody reality, is one of Brink's most powerful works."-"Los Angeles Times Book Review
Hanna X is a young German woman who wants to escape her tortured childhood by moving to her country's colony in South-West Africa. Upon arriving, however, she is confronted with the harsh realities of colonial life. For resisting the advances of a German officer, she is banished to Frauenstein, a phantasmagoric outpost that is at once a prison, nunnery, and brothel. When the drunken excesses of visiting soldiers threaten the young girl who has become her only companion, Hanna revolts.
Mounting a ragtag army of women and native victims of colonial brutality, she sets out on an epic journey to take on the German Reich. Combining the history of colonialism with the myths of Africa, this is an exquisitely written tale of suffering, violence, revenge, and love.
Andre Brink has won South Africa's major literary prize, the CAN, three times and has twice been short-listed for the Booker Prize. He lives in Cape Town, South Africa.