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Helping to research her lover's film on the great plague, Andrea returns to Provence. Travelling with Mandia, a fellow South African and Black activist, helps Andrea put into perspective the more hedonistic elements of her new life. As the story unfolds in a landscape evoked with a mastery, Andrea and Mandia confront the uneasy relationships which develop between themselves and their lovers. Their difficulties form an allegory for those faced by two disparate continents, as they undertake the process of reconciling Europe's past and Africa's present.
Andrea, a South African woman living in Europe, finds her personal relationships and political consciousness challenged as she researches a film about the historical plague in Provence. While navigating the hedonistic lifestyle of her expatriate circle, she travels with Mandia, a Black activist who forces her to confront the stark realities of their shared homeland. The narrative explores the friction between their personal desires and the broader political tensions of their era. Through a non-linear examination of history and memory, the story maps the psychological distance between the characters and the continents they inhabit.
The narrative structure suggests a dense, intellectual engagement with the themes of exile and historical trauma. The work positions itself as a meditation on the parallels between the medieval past and the political volatility of the twentieth century. Readers likely encounter a prose style that prioritizes thematic depth and philosophical inquiry over rapid plot progression. The text functions as an examination of the moral responsibility of the individual when confronted with the weight of global history.
Page Count:
448
Publication Date:
1985-11-14
Publisher:
HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN-10:
0006541534
ISBN-13:
9780006541530
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