The novel is an eye-opener into a part of
our society that we all too often wilfully fail to see. (Review by Margaret von
Klemperer. Courtesy of The Witness)
Carol Campbell’s third fictional outing
among the poorest people of the Karoo opens with the central character, Siena,
running for her life. It becomes clear that she has killed a man, and why, and
she is heading for the only safe haven her life has ever offered – the
Seekoegat Primary School.
We don’t know who she has killed at this
stage, and Campbell weaves her story back and forth between the present, with
Siena struggling to escape what life has thrown at her, and the past, which has
brought her to this. She is one of three main characters, the other two being
Boetie and Kriekie.
Boetie was a neglected child and when the
only family he had ever known were taken away by the police for a murder which
he witnessed, he joined up with Siena’s karretjiemense parents. But when the
children killed a tortoise, the furious Mevrou on the farm dispatched Siena off
to school, and Boetie became, to all intents, feral. Kriekie, the third leg of
the triangle, was damaged in an attack by older children and when his prostitute
mother vanished, he too was sent off to school.
The title refers to the myth that the
ancient Karoo tortoise will shed just one tear as it dies, and myth and magic
play a role in the story. Once again, as in her two previous novels, My Children Have Faces and Esther’s House, Campbell highlights the
plight of people on the fringes of society, and the often unimaginable horror
and poverty of their lives. But don’t be put off: there is a redemptive sense
of beauty here, and kindness found in many, often unexpected places. Siena,
Boetie and Kriekie and their plight will remain with the reader long after the
final page has been turned. The novel is an eye-opener into a part of our
society that we all too often wilfully fail to see.
The
Tortoise Cried its Only Tear is published in
paperback by Umuzi. ISBN 978-1-4152-1008-6 Recommended Price R240.00. - Margaret
von Klemperer
THERE
will be a launch for Carol Campbell’s “The Tortoise Cried its Only Tear” on
Tuesday, March 5 at Exclusive Books Gateway at 18h00 for 18h30. The author will
be in conversation with Duncan Guy. RSVP events@exclusivebooks.co.za or 011
7980180
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