I was not familiar with this black South African physician-novelist until I saw this short story at the library, while looking for anything worth wasting time on. This, her third novel, is written as a cri du coeur journal record of the uncertainty, anguish, and self doubts of a deeply religious new medical graduate doing an internship in post-apartheid Pretoria. Many of the journal entries are direct questions to her God about the unfairness of the world in which her teen brother has committed suicide, she fights violent xenophobic black nationalism, is gang raped, and deals with her own descent into psychotic depression, guilt, and sense of worthlessness.
She exposes the cognitive dissonance of believing in an all-loving God who nevertheless never seems to answer her prayers or come to her assistance. Although she never directly questions the existence of God, she doesn’t hesitate to accuse him of favouritism and desertion. In many ways, this a modern day Book Of Job without any definitive answers to the many deep philosophical questions raised. Or perhaps more like the Old Testament book of Lamentations- dark and disturbing but thought-provoking.
Written in very short phrases or sentences, with frequent quotes from the Bible, this is an easy read, but raises profound questions that defy any easy answers. I got a very different take from this read than most of the reviewers on the jacket who concentrate on its political and racial context. Although it is set in South Africa sometime around 2010, it deals with meaty universal issues that should be of interest to a wide readership. It is far from clear to me to what extent this is autobiography.
Speaking to God: “I don’t know why I speak to You. You never speak back. Your silence is everywhere. It’s thick and plugs up the air.”
Avery good quick read
The Passionate Reader 