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

5.0

This book was one I stumbled upon by going through older years of Oprah’s book club picks. I’ve read a number of her book club features in the last year and they’re typically very compelling, so this one made my list. I didn’t realize until I received it that it was actually published more than 80 years ago! The story ages well and was a good read. To describe it as a sad story is the understatement of the year. It follows the tribulations of Stephen Kumalo, a poor minister in a rural village in South Africa, as he seeks to resolve the troubles of his wayward family members. A pious and good man, Stephen travels to Johannesburg to come to the aid of his sister, her son, and his own son – all who have ventured far from their home and have gotten into trouble with the law or otherwise. While his travels do not result in his being able to help his immediate family members, he is able to help those in their circle and to build valuable relationships (through hardship) to help his impoverished community. Written in the 1940s just before the adoption of aparthaid, the book highlights the clear inequities between white and black, particularly in the heyday of mineral extraction where black workers worked in dangerous conditions for very little pay. I didn’t know this prior to reading it, but the author, Alan Paton, is a particularly famous author and anti-aparthaid activist. An area of global history that I know little about, it was very interesting to examine through the lens of how aparthaid so divided South Africa for decades following the publication of this book.