A review by tarrowood
Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

5.0

This book more than rocked me. It took time to adjust to the timbre of one of the character, but once I did I immediately felt connected. Every movement in the narrative is significant in explicating how one should live life; even in the tough moments there are lessons to be learned. There is inexplicable grace, forgiveness, and action that are shown in spite of grief and sorrow. The relationship between the umfundisi and the umnumzana is one that doesn’t make sense in the world we live in, which makes it incredulous to imagine in the setting of a mid century South Africa: yet it exists, and it should be emulated.