Published by David Philip, 2000

Short-listed for the Sanlam Prize

This compelling historical novel about the birth of the new South Africa explores the moving friendship between two women thrown together by an act of terror, and asks searching questions about the power of testimony and reconciliation, and the price we pay for the pain of the past.

 

[A]n engrossing and intriguingly told chapter in anti-imperial history.

—J. M. Coetzee

[A] postcolonial fantasia … an imaginative exploration of the possibilities of connectedness. … The skilful tracing of bloodlines through several generations makes of a desperate act of violence a token of regeneration.

—Michiel Heyns, Sunday Independent

[A] journey into the possible … an extremely good read.

—Cape Argus

Bloodlines is an engaging and compelling book binding a potent theme and memorable characters into a brisk narrative … the writing shows a controlled resonance, the sign of a talent that must not be ignored.

—Times Literary Supplement