Books Tasted - Everything bookly (and a few other things)

Everytime I pop by the library (usually to check out 2 copies of the latest book club reading, 1 for me and 1 for my sister), I take a quick glance at the new books. Often, this is a total bust - the same "new" unappetizing books it's been for the past months. Last time though, I found something new and enticing - Unconfessed by Yvette Christianse (the e has an umlaut but I don't know how to blog that!).

This book is about the life of a slave named Sila in earlier 19th century South Africa. Told in first person, it chronicles her life as she moves from master to master, denied the freedom promised her, eventually landing in prison. The book is inspired by actual court records.

I must admit, I am woefully ignorant of slavery in South Africa or the history of the area. It took me to almost the end of the book to realize why she was writing about April and the coming of winter in the same sentence (smart one, Beth). So I felt a little lost when references were made to locations, and I felt like I should have known more about the unspoken conditions - that is, what was being said by being left out. Know what I mean? But the book was compelling. It's written very stream-of-consciousness, almost like poetry. (This is the author's first novel, but she has published a book of poetry.) At times I was completely lost, but I still felt pushed to keep reading.

As I've seen in other reviews, I did feel certain parts of the book could have been better. The streams of thought were often repetitive and often the metaphors just didn't ring true, or the leap from one thought to another seemed disconnected. It was like the author was trying to force a connection where there was none. Also, the story jumps from point to point in her life, out of time sequence. This often works well to create suspense - why is Sila in jail, exactly? - but sometimes it's extremely hard to follow what happened when and it served to cloud the story rather than enhance it.

Overall though, I thought it a worthwhile read. It really brought home a truth of slavery I'd never thought about before - the utter lack of control a mother has over the fate of her children. Having no control over your own life must be terrible, but how much worse to feel you have failed as a mother because you couldn't protect your children, weren't allowed to raise them as you thought best or even ensure their basic safeties?

I'm sure the author will continue to improve with future writings, and I want to check out some non-fiction now on the history of slavery in South Africa. Recommended.

Have you read Unconfessed? Leave a comment!