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Andrew Harding

These Are Not Gentle People: A tense and pacy true-crime thriller Hardcover – 1 Oct. 2020

by Andrew Harding (Author)

105 ratings

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"Utterly gripping, timely and shocking" PHILIPPE SANDS

"Compelling and disturbing . . . quietly devastating" DAMON GALGUT

"This is a book of profound importance . . . A masterpiece" ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH

"A vintage crime story . . . an extraordinary tale . . . It is written as a drama, part thriller, part tragedy" ALEC RUSSELL, Financial Times

"A smartly paced true-crime thriller with a vivid cast of characters . . . as tense as it is disturbing" JOHN CARLIN, author of Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation

Two dead men. Forty suspects. The trial that broke a small South African town

"Look what the fucking dogs did to them, someone muttered. No-one mentioned the rope, or the monkey-wrench, or the gun, or the knife, or the stick, or the whip, or the blood-stained boots. In fact, no-one said much at all. It seemed simpler that way. There was no sense in pointing fingers.'"

At dusk, on a warm evening in 2016, a group of forty men gathered in the corner of a dusty field on a farm outside Parys in the Free State. Some were in fury. Others treated the whole thing as a joke - a game. The events of the next two hours would come to haunt them all. They would rip families apart, prompt suicide attempts, breakdowns, divorce, bankruptcy, threats of violent revenge and acts of unforgivable treachery.

These Are Not Gentle People is the story of that night, and of what happened next. It's a courtroom drama, a profound exploration of collective guilt and individual justice, and a fast-paced literary thriller.

Award-winning foreign correspondent and author Andrew Harding traces the impact of one moment of collective barbarism on a fragile community - exploding lies, cover-ups, political meddling and betrayals, and revealing the inner lives of those involved with extraordinary clarity.

The book is also a mesmerising examination of a small town trying to cope with a trauma that threatens to tear it in two - as such, it is as much a journey into the heart of modern South Africa as it is a gripping tale of crime, punishment and redemption.

When a whole community is on trial, who pays the price?

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

MacLehose Press
Publication date

1 Oct. 2020
Dimensions

15.8 x 2.8 x 23.6 cm
ISBN-10

1529405580
ISBN-13

978-1529405583
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Product details

Publisher : MacLehose Press; 1st edition (1 Oct. 2020)
Language : English
Hardcover : 288 pages
ISBN-10 : 1529405580
ISBN-13 : 978-1529405583
Dimensions : 15.8 x 2.8 x 23.6 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 287,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 131 in History of Southern Africa
- 1,081 in Discrimination & Racism (Books)
- 2,217 in Murderer Biographies

Customer reviews:
105 ratings

Product description

Review

A smartly paced true-crime thriller with a vivid cast of characters . . . as tense as it is disturbing, richly evoking the mood of a dark, dry place in the heart of South Africa where racial fear lingers, brutal rage flares and everyone remains trapped in the cruel coils of history. -- John Carlin, author of PLAYING THE ENEMY: NELSON MANDELA AND THE GAME THAT MADE A NATION

Every so often a book comes very close to defining a nation. In this extraordinary, fast-paced and exquisitely written true story, South Africa's brutal and divided past, its complex present and contested future collide in an explosive narrative of race, class and human cruelty. This is In Cold Blood meets Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Believe me, Andrew Harding has given us an instant classic.

Andrew Harding is one of the great foreign correspondents -- Fergal Keane

These Are Not Gentle People is a South African tragedy. Page after page reveals the painful truth, that the sun has set on Mandela's Rainbow Nation . . . The lives of the characters, from the landless and poor blacks, to the white landowners caught in a vortex of fear and oblivion, are a true reflection of South Africa's unfinished business - building a country that belongs to all . . . A gripping and painful read, told with empathy and nuance. These Are Not Gentle People, is an uncomfortable reminder that the past is not over. -- Redi Tlhabi

[A] searing examination of a small town trying to cope with a trauma that threatens to tear it apart" ― Sunday Times (South Africa)

This is a book of profound importance. Through its pages there runs a deep and sympathetic understanding of a troubled country. A masterpiece. -- Alexander McCall Smith

Utterly gripping, timely and shocking -- Philippe Sands

Uncomfortable and disturbing, but impossible to put down . . . From the first paragraph it is a fast-paced suspenseful thriller. A disturbing and moving story of fear and suspicion... Harding writes so well and with so much empathy and insight ― Vrye Weekblad

An extremely beautiful, profound, disturbing, magnificent book. I can't recommend it more highly -- Marrianne Thamm ― Daily Maverick

Wow! What a book! I cannot believe I'm going to read too many better non-fiction books. It points out how messy, complex and nuanced is almost everything is in our society. It is exceptional -- John Maytham ― Books of the Week - CapeTalk Radio

Book Description

Two dead men. Forty suspects. The trial that broke a small South African town - by BBC Africa Correspondent

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Donny Rock

Shocking!!!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 October 2020

Verified Purchase

This is the true story of the killing of two black young men by a forty strong crowd of white farmers, and the ensuing legalities and court case. There is so much underhandedness between so many of the principals that I have to wonder if the whole business was ever truly exposed. As I am unfamiliar with names of South African Boers and there are so many of them involved and with similar names that I found the account confusing at times. Perhaps less confusion if characters were not introduced in bulk and in a hurry. The amount of medical negligence and contradiction involved is incredible. Truth, undoubtedly, is stranger than fiction.

Helpful

A Nuanced, Riveting & Harrowing Work of True Crime

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 September 2020

These Are Not Gentle People is a fast-paced, important work of South African true crime and the case that has defined a nation. Since early 2016 South Africans have become gripped by a trial that has been taking place in the small town of Parys, south of Johannesburg, where are a group of white farmers are accused of murdering two black farmhands. The white farmers say it was a question of self-defence: the two black labourers were threatening them and their families. The black community claim that the farmhands had simply gone to the farm to ask for unpaid wages. The case is a microcosm of the racial, political and financial tensions that are increasingly worrying South Africans, but also a gripping character-driven tale of grief, fear and anger in a small-town community. The truth of what actually happened has been slippery.

Andrew Harding, the BBC's Africa correspondent, lives in Johannesburg. From the moment the murders took place, Andrew has been following this case closely, interviewing everyone involved, from the accused white farmers, to the bereaved family of the black farmhands, to the female Indian magistrate, to the policemen and detectives on the trail of the truth (or not). He has sat through hours of the trial, and has put together a brilliantly kaleidoscopic picture of what might have happened, and who thinks what about it - weaving all these various points of view into an extraordinarily fast-paced work of true crime. All the dialogue is meticulously based on real interviews and yet it reads like a novel. Andrew's powers of description - of landscape, people and place - as well of his sense of a good story, are phenomenal.

As a true crime enthusiast, this was a no-brainer; I knew it would get my full attention as the case is a fascinating but harrowing and terrifying one, however, what I didn't realise was that it would grab me by the throat and refuse to let go. Even some time after finishing it, my memory of it has not diminished. The emotional intelligence, elegance of prose, compassionate handling and determination to portray each side of the story shines through on every page, and I must admit it was also completely riveting and intricately detailed too. It's clear Harding has carried out extensive research into the case and its racial, financial and political complications and the implications for wider society in South Africa. If you enjoy true crime then I cannot recommend this highly enough; it is an absolute must-read which has so much more to it in terms of nuance and depth than merely its page-turning qualities. Many thanks to MacLehose Press for an ARC.

Helpful

Tilly

A brutal and compelling read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 October 2020

The story of a shocking true crime which tore a South African community apart. Although this is true crime, Harding’s writing makes it feel almost like a work of fiction as it has such great pace and keeps you turning the page to find out what happens next. I found I was grateful for this as the violence and brutality of the crime is hard to come to terms with as something that not just one, but 40 human beings can do to another.
I found one of the most heartbreaking things was the fact that so many people involved didn’t even bother to differentiate between the two victims, and when researching further I found multiple news articles with incorrect names for the victims - as though they don’t even deserve their own identities after the indignity they have already suffered.
With so much focus on America’s racial tensions at the moment, this is an essential read to show that racism is all too alive even in a country where Apartheid ended over 25years ago. A brutal, compelling read - be prepared to spend a lot of time searching the news for updates after reading this, as it stays with you.

Helpful

Compelling narrative non fiction.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 December 2020

These Are Not Gentle People is an utterly compelling true crime story using narrative non fiction to really dig deep and engage the reader on many emotional levels.

An act of violence splits a community down the middle, Andrew Harding explores both the act and the people with an insightful eye and with various perspectives offering a bird’s eye view on character and event. This reads like a complex thriller but this really happened and the effects on those involved comes to life within the words of the author in vivid detail.

A truly stunning exploration of how one moment in time has far reaching consequences, These Are Not Gentle People ultimately tells the tale of a community in flux. It is part mystery, part courtroom drama, all intense character study and comes highly recommended from me.

Helpful

Important and topical

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 November 2020

A disturbing, harrowing and really quite shocking story of a crime in South Africa, and the effect it had, and no doubt still has, on the whole community, both black and white. Two young black men are brutally attacked and killed by a group of white farmers. Their subsequent arrest and the trial that followed are described in great detail, as are the repercussions for all involved. I didn’t always find it an easy read as there are so many characters implicated that it was hard at times to distinguish them one from another, but nevertheless this is a minor quibble. It’s a timely and important book, meticulously researched, and a reminder that racism is alive and well in South Africa as well as in the US. Highly recommended.

Helpful

Dawn L

Disturbing and heartbreaking

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 October 2020

This was a difficult book to read. It is disturbing and heartbreaking. Several times, I forgot that the events I was reading about happened in 2016. This sort of thing doesn't happen now, does it? Yes. Yes, it does. Andrew Harding writes with an even-handedness that I found astonishing. I was waiting for a swing to one side or the other, and that never happened. I think that made the events even more hard to understand. Nevertheless, this book gives an insight into South Africa - good and bad. This should be required reading for everyone.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advance copy to review. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

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