The Wall Of The Plague

The Wall Of The Plague

Summary

Helping to research her lover's film on the great plague, Andrea returns to Provence. However, her journey becomes more a trip of personal discovery than one of pure academic research as she begins to enjoy more and more of the idyllic lifestyle.

Travelling with Mandla, a fellow South African and Black activist, helps Andrea put into perspective the more hedonistic elements of her new life. However, through the intensity of his own convictions Mandla forces his friend to re-assess her own beliefs, casting a shadow on the relationship.

As the story unfolds in a landscape evoked with a breathtaking mastery, Andrea and Mandla 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.

Reviews

  • A courageous self-assessment... interesting and pivotal... done with sincerity and intelligence
    Times Literary Supplement

About the author

André Brink

Andre Brink (1935 - 2015) was one of South Africa's most prominent writers and is the author of several novels, including A Dry White Season, Imaginings of Sand, The Rights of Desire, The Other Side of Silence and Philida. He has won South Africa's most important literay prize, the CNA Award, three times and has twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His last novel, Philida, was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2012.
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