The Slave Book

Set in the early 1830s, The Slave Book recounts the last five years of slavery at the Cape of Good Hope. The novel opens with Sangora van Java on the block, a "Mohametan" slave who is being sold for preaching his belief to others. Andries de Villiers, a hard-nosed wine farmer, purchases Sangora, despite his suspicion that the tall slave could spell trouble. On impulse, he also bids for Sangora's 16-year-old stepdaughter, Somiela, but not for the girl's mother - thereby separating the family. The first days on Zoetewater are traumatic, but both father and stepdaughter survive and find comfort in the unity amongst the slaves on the farm. It is when Harman Kloot, an Afrikaner of mixed blood, arrives from the interior that a second, major crisis develops - Harman is torn between duty to his group and love of a girl who belongs to a different culture and faith. Whatever decision he makes will be seen as betrayal, either of his own people or of the slave community with whom he has found common ground.