Unconfessed

by Yvette Christiansë

Book Overview

PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD FINALIST A fiercely poetic literary debut re-creating the life of an 19th-century slave woman in South Africa. Slavery as it existed in Africa has seldom been portrayed and never... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590512405
• ISBN13: 9781590512401
• Release Date: November 2006
• Publisher: Other Press (NY)
• Length: 347 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.9" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Beautifully written and thought provoking

This book is for the reader who wants the challange of a book that makes you think and come up with conclusions. It is not a cookie-cutter walk in the park novel, but rather one that makes you ask questions and ponder the story. I made my book-reading friends read this so we could share our opinions which were quite different. This is an original, carefully researched, true slave narrative and is now among my favorite books. Share it with someone who can appreciate its deepth.

Deliriously beautiful

I'm probably biased in favor of this book, so don't take my word for it. Take People Magazine's. Caroline Leavitt gave it 4 stars, and described it as a "breathtaking novel," "gorgeous and tragic," and written in "rich, lyrical prose." Kirkus reviews gave it a starred review. And so did the Library Journal. The great South African writer, Antjie Krog, says that Yvette Christiansë invented a new language for the book. But it's accessible, and even compulsive reading. As for my own estimation, Unconfessed is a deliriously beautiful work, one that manages to make the main character, Sila van den Kaap, at once pitiable and admirable. Abused by history and its mendacious masters, she is fierce but also vulnerable, terrifying in her capacity for rage and surprising in her capacity for love, humor and even laughter. This is great literature, and also a great read.