Prachtig boek - vlot geschreven - over Persomi die met haar analfabete moeder, haar zusjes en broers leeft in een hutje- als bijwoners op het terrein van meneer Fourie. Heel het boek draait rond de figuur van Persomi, die verlangt naar een eerlijke kans op een goede toekomst. Als kind al ontwikkelt ze een bijzondere vriendschap met Boelie, de zoon van meneer Fourie. Door het ontstaan van de apartheid en een geheim over haar eigen familie, komt die vriendschap erg onder druk te staan. Ze doet haar uiterste best op school. Ze zet alles op alles om te strijden voor recht en gerechtigheid. Hartverwarmend verhaal. ( )

Bookclub book for July/August 2021 bc Christy cannot have bookclub due to her illness (lymphoma) and in chemo. And she would’ve had August bookclub so Becky’s combining her July bookclub with august.
Love the era and simplicity ( )

This book, set in South Africa in the years 1938 - 1968, centers around the life of Persome, a daughter in a dirt-poor white sharecropper family. ( )

Child of The River by Irma Joubert is one of the best novels I have ever read, and when I found that a second novel had been translated into English, I was excited to introduce this talented author to my book club. Child of The River again transports the reader to South Africa, this time spanning 30 years beginning in the pre-WWII years. Beautifully written, this novel is a hard book to read — abuse, prejudice, and nationalized separation of races — but has an underlying theme of hope in the face of injustice. My book club liked the book and appreciated the glimpse into a bygone time and foreign land.

Persomi is a the daughter of a bywoner or sharecropper in the bushveld of South Africa. She looks on the lives of real people with the dream of one day being part of their world. A strong girl becomes a determined woman who faces head-on the unjust treatment and unfair laws of her country.

The story is filled with compelling and complex characters, some we loved, others not so much. Women as portrayed in the novel are especially irritating, and there were a few we wished we could have shaken! The men are treated a bit more kindly with a few earning our admiration. Persomi is the main character, and we loved her sense of right and wrong, her desire to protect the underdog, and her gentle, yet firm manner in dealing with hard situations. There is also a love story that we loved, hated, and ultimately rejoiced in. The novel is published by Christian publisher, Thomas Nelson, and while it did not have an overt faith message, it was heavily influenced by the author’s Christian worldview.

My book club and I really liked Child of The River, and welcome further translations of Joubert’s novels.

Highly Recommended.

Audience: adults. ( )

"They were fighting for survival, she knew. Because their complexions were dark, their religion considered heathen, their traditions unfamiliar.
"Had she been foolish to take on this battle?"

Growing up as a poor, white daughter of sharecroppers in South Africa during World War II, it seems that Pérsomi will have few options in life. When an unexpected chance at education opens up to her, it brings her into a new world of possibilities. But at this time of heightening social unrest in her country, her new world may be a difficult place to make a difference in Child of the River, a novel by author Irma Joubert.

Pérsomi is an intelligent heroine full of quiet yearning, and my favorite parts of the story are when her simple, unlikely courage comes to the fore. She has a heart for seeking justice, and for better or for worse, that heart is put to the test in the face of apartheid. Also, as I've read a number of novels that deal with WWII, it was interesting to observe some effects of the war from Pérsomi's part of the globe.

However, when it came to much of her personal life, I found the novel pretty hard to read. Yes, any strong story needs some sort of believable conflict, challenge, or adversity from which to create a plot. But when a book starts to feel like a downer overall, it usually isn't my cup of tea. It seems this story goes from generally sober, then to gloomy, and then to downright depressing, without enough moments of light or fire to balance it out for me. Once I reached the end of the book, I wasn't quite sure if the conclusion was a natural outcome or if it was something to placate me, more or less, after all the gloom.

Still, admiring and relating to this flawed but able heroine kept me intrigued enough to stick with her story.
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BookLook Bloggers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review. ( )