- Paperback: 360 pages
- Publisher: University of Chicago Press; University of Chicago Press Ed edition (1 July 1992)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0226510832
- ISBN-13: 978-0226510835
- Product Dimensions: 20.7 x 13.5 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,046,197 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Set in nineteenth-century rural Africa, "Fiela's Child" tells the gripping story of Fiela Komoetie and a white, three-year old child, Benjamin, whom she finds crying on her doorstep. For nine years Fiela raises Benjamin as one of her own children. But when census takers discover Benjamin, they send him to an illiterate white family of woodcutters who claim him as their son. What follows is Benjamin's search for his identity and the fundamental changes affecting the white and black families who claim him.
"Everything a novel can be: convincing, thought-provoking, upsetting, unforgettable, and timeless."--Grace Ingoldby, "New Statesman "
""Fiela's Child "is a parade that broadens and humanizes our understanding of the conflicts still affecting South Africa today."--Francis Levy, "New York Times Book Review "
"A powerful creation of time and place with dark threads of destiny and oppression and its roots in the almost Biblical soil of a storyteller's art."--Christopher Wordsworth, "The Guardian "
"The characters in the novel live and breathe; and the landscape is so brightly painted that the trees, birds, elephants, and rivers of old South Africa are characters themselves. A book not to miss."--"Kirkus Reviews "
"Everything a novel can be: convincing, thought-provoking, upsetting, unforgettable, and timeless."--Grace Ingoldby, "New Statesman "
""Fiela's Child "is a parade that broadens and humanizes our understanding of the conflicts still affecting South Africa today."--Francis Levy, "New York Times Book Review "
"A powerful creation of time and place with dark threads of destiny and oppression and its roots in the almost Biblical soil of a storyteller's art."--Christopher Wordsworth, "The Guardian "
"The characters in the novel live and breathe; and the landscape is so brightly painted that the trees, birds, elephants, and rivers of old South Africa are characters themselves. A book not to miss."--"Kirkus Reviews "
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
The day the child disappeared, the fog came up early and by midday it seemed as if the Forest was covered in a thick white cloud. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
The day the child disappeared, the fog came up early and by midday it seemed as if the Forest was covered in a thick white cloud. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I originally read this book in the Afrikaans version for last year of school syllabus in South Africa. Classes in Afrikaans were not always enjoyed, but I felt very moved by this story. It gives beautiful descriptions of the South African countryside. The injustices of the old colour bar are also felt when the boy is taken from a loving mother, who is coloured and put with a family that can show no love just because they are white. I wanted another copy in Afrikaans, but would like to see if the book translates well into English
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Dalene Matthee has long been regarded as one of the masters of the (Afrikaans) Romantic Novel. When we were given Fiela se Kind (English translation: Fiela's Child) as a setwork, I like most students viewed the book with trepidation. After 10 pages, I went and bought myself a copy of the book.
This is the story of a white baby, abandoned by his natural parents, who is found and 'adopted' by a Coloured woman (Fiela), who raises the child, Benjamin, as her own. It explores the joys of Benjamin's childhood, the education that he gets from Fiela (so very different to what he would have got in a white household), and eventually the heartbreak when he is torn away from the only mother he has, and is given to a white wood cutter, who claims that Benjamin is his child who went missing in the forest.
This is a story told with a great sensitivity of the life styles of the people who inhabited the Cape in the mid 1800's. It is a compelling book, heartwrenching at times, humerous at times, but always, it gives the reader a feel for what was happening in the hearts of the people involved. The Characters may come across as being very simple, but that is the essence of the book. Fiela's simple, but pure, love for her child, the woodcutter's simple, but hard way of life, and Benjamin's simple non-understanding of why he was taken away from the woman he loved, and given to a man he hated. His lack of understanding that he is "better" than Fiela because he is white, and she isn't, and his stuggle to adjust to a new and totally unfamiliar set of rules.
This book could be described a bit like a prison, because once it gets hold of you, it doesn't let go, not until it has finished with you, and not you with it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an unusual story, with good development of the main characters. It will appeal to everyone interested in the human condition - the place of the individual within society, who we are, how we relate to the people around us, families. But it will be of special significance to those who have visited the Knysna area or who like rural stories. The chapters move repeatedly between three main settings: the forest, the open country and the coast. This approach works well - it keeps the reader interested in what is not a fast-moving story. For me, the sense of 'what's going to happen next?' increased as I became more deeply absorbed in the book. The language is, at times, slightly stilted or formal - maybe this is because it is a translation (although I must say it generally works well as a translation). This is a minor criticism. It is a book that is in enjoyable to read throughout, but which rewards the reader who keeps going. The book is certainly suitable for adults and is probably OK for 12+. There is a sensitive and slightly vague consideration of what it would be like to have incestuous feelings. There is nothing that I would consider nasty in the content (no swearing, no graphic violence, etc.). Finally, I have to say that women will enjoy it more than men - but I liked it and I'm sure lots of other guys do too!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Heart wrenching scenes and some that make your veins boil!
It is a book that brings back the disharmony and racialistic view of the Whites aginst the Coloureds. Read more
Published on 16 Sep 1998
Great Book!
This is one of the three books that I had to study for during my O-levels two years ago. I think that this book is absolutely fabulous with many heart wrenching parts, for example... Read more
Published on 6 May 1998
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