228:
In the long run, however, all their attempts at keeping up appearances cannot disguise the fact that, for a multitude of reasons, their marriage is failing, and that they have also lost touch with their son, that they have no idea about where, and how, he is actually spending his time. They find out
240:
A birthday party thrown in Silas's honour is the last event where the Alis are seen together. By that time, Silas is toying with the idea of going abroad, preferably to Europe, to make a fresh start there, especially now that
President Mandela is about to resign and he may lose his prestigious
205:. For almost twenty years, Silas and Lydia have kept quiet about the crime, both to each other and towards the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Lydia has never shared her terrible suspicion that du Boise is Michael's
150:, "All the bases are touched in a reckoning with South Africa's past and present turmoil, and no box left unopened in the search for some kind of limbo or twilight zone where all unresolved conflicts might find resolution."
229:
too late that, while performing brilliantly at university, he has turned into a seducer of older women—he has had affairs with one of his father's former "comrades in arms", who is rich, white, and
217:, and more than ten years younger than her husband, Lydia copes badly with Silas's sudden revelation about du Boise and the additional information that the now retired policeman has applied for
47:
233:, and also with one of his literature professors—and that he has started to investigate his own roots by contacting his paternal grandfather's relatives, who are
241:
government job; Lydia has stopped working as a nurse and is planning to leave her husband for good; and
Michael has acquired a gun and lets himself be influenced by
175:
201:
while Silas was made to listen to her screams from inside a police van—an act of brutality obviously triggered by Silas's involvement with the
248:
In the end it is
Michael Ali who takes the most drastic actions. Reinventing himself as a Muslim and planning to go into hiding and eventually to
17:
331:
252:, where his grandfather was born, he goes on a killing spree, shooting first the white father who for many years has had an
346:
282:
85:
303:
179:
225:, she dances on broken glass and has to be hospitalised under the pretence of having suffered a freak accident.
178:. While his attractive wife Lydia works as a nurse, their only child, 18-year-old Michael reads Literature at
31:
341:
237:(although his father Silas is not). Also, they do not realise that he has recently read Lydia's diary.
336:
242:
326:
270:
8:
117:
278:
202:
141:
92:
80:
214:
171:
256:
with his daughter—who is a friend of
Michael's—,and then du Boise.
163:
46:
320:
186:
167:
113:
57:
159:
146:
129:
170:
occasionally even seen on television next to
Mandela, he is employed as a
99:
222:
121:
221:
for a number of sexual assaults, including the one on her. In an act of
274:
190:
137:
125:
230:
133:
218:
174:
assigned to coordinate governmental activities with those of the
253:
234:
206:
249:
210:
93:
198:
194:
185:
The past catches up with Silas Ali one Sunday morning at a
162:
lawyer approaching 50 who has risen to prominence during
189:
when he sees, and recognizes, François du Boise, an
318:
132:in 1998, it is about the disintegration of a
45:
14:
319:
136:family in the years after the end of
176:Truth and Reconciliation Commission
24:
209:with anyone other than her secret
25:
358:
332:21st-century South African novels
304:"Clouds over the Rainbow Nation"
153:
296:
243:fundamentalist Islamic circles
166:'s presidency. A high-ranking
13:
1:
289:
213:. Trapped in an unpromising,
32:Bitter Fruit (disambiguation)
7:
27:2001 novel by Achmat Dangor
18:Bitter Fruit (Dangor novel)
10:
363:
347:Novels set in Johannesburg
259:
29:
91:
79:
71:
63:
53:
44:
193:policeman who, in 1978,
254:incestuous relationship
197:Lydia somewhere in the
30:For other uses, see
342:Fiction set in 1998
310:, 13 December 2003.
302:Gabriel Gbadamosi,
116:first published in
41:
39:
142:Gabriel Gbadamosi
105:
104:
16:(Redirected from
354:
337:Apartheid novels
311:
300:
273:: London, 2003;
215:sexless marriage
95:
49:
42:
38:
21:
362:
361:
357:
356:
355:
353:
352:
351:
317:
316:
315:
314:
301:
297:
292:
265:Achmat Dangor:
262:
180:Wits University
172:liaison officer
158:Silas Ali is a
156:
140:. According to
35:
28:
23:
22:
15:
12:
11:
5:
360:
350:
349:
344:
339:
334:
329:
313:
312:
294:
293:
291:
288:
287:
286:
277:edition 2004,
271:Atlantic Books
261:
258:
207:natural father
164:Nelson Mandela
155:
152:
112:is a novel by
103:
102:
97:
89:
88:
83:
77:
76:
73:
69:
68:
65:
61:
60:
55:
51:
50:
26:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
359:
348:
345:
343:
340:
338:
335:
333:
330:
328:
325:
324:
322:
309:
305:
299:
295:
284:
283:1-84354-264-1
280:
276:
272:
268:
264:
263:
257:
255:
251:
246:
244:
238:
236:
232:
226:
224:
220:
216:
212:
208:
204:
200:
196:
192:
188:
187:shopping mall
183:
181:
177:
173:
169:
168:civil servant
165:
161:
151:
149:
148:
144:'s review in
143:
139:
135:
131:
127:
123:
119:
115:
114:Achmat Dangor
111:
110:
101:
98:
96:
90:
87:
86:0-7957-0097-0
84:
82:
78:
74:
70:
66:
62:
59:
58:Achmat Dangor
56:
52:
48:
43:
40:Bitter Fruit
37:
33:
19:
308:The Guardian
307:
298:
267:Bitter Fruit
266:
247:
239:
227:
184:
160:Johannesburg
157:
154:Plot summary
147:The Guardian
145:
130:South Africa
109:Bitter Fruit
108:
107:
106:
36:
327:2001 novels
223:self-injury
122:Kwela Books
321:Categories
290:References
275:paperback
191:Afrikaner
138:apartheid
128:. Set in
126:Cape Town
100:868430318
64:Published
231:bisexual
134:Coloured
260:Edition
235:Muslims
219:amnesty
75:254 pp.
281:
54:Author
250:India
211:diary
195:raped
72:Pages
279:ISBN
199:veld
118:2001
94:OCLC
81:ISBN
67:2001
124:of
120:by
323::
306:,
285:).
245:.
203:MK
182:.
269:(
34:.
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.