The story opens at a time when Cabinda – a small African enclave surrounded by the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and separated from Angola by the Congo River – is plunged into bloody war. Deep in the heart of Cabinda is the Mayombe rainforest, home to a group of guerrilla fighters whose very existence is to liberate their land from the terrors perpetrated by the Angolan army. Against that backdrop of massacres and deforestation and written with crusading fervour, this novel is much more than a political tract. It is a powerful story of impossible love: the poignant love of the principled, young doctor Albino for the country lass Maria; the redemptory love which his ailing, ruthless grandfather Santos is surprised to feel as death approaches; and the love of a dispossessed people for the land of their birth. Recommended reading, then, for lovers of African literature, as well as for scholars and adepts of colonial and postcolonial literature.

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Chris van der Merwe vertel in hierdie boek die verhaal van sy eie omgang met die letterkunde ? ‘n persoonlike verhaal, maar ook ‘n stimulus vir lesers en navorsers wat belangstel in verbande tussen letterkunde en lewe.

Die opstelle wissel in styl. Sommige is geskryf as akademiese artikels, ander as resensies, ander as essays. Die resensies en essays is meer informeel in toon en bevat minder verwysings en bibliografiese besonderhede as die akademiese artikels. ‘n Paar opstelle is in Engels ? getuienis van die skrywer se verlange om die boeiende veld van die Afrikaanse letterkunde te deel met mense wat Afrikaans nie magtig is nie of nie genoegsaam van Afrikaans notisie neem nie.

EOn Skrywer by sonsopkoms. Op sewentig is Hennie Aucamp dit steeds in werk en lewe: OOn Vroegopstaner met On kyk wat, soos by sonsopkoms, dinge uit die donker van die niebestaande wek tot On lewe-in-woordeO. Om hom te huldig op On leeftyd wat aldus nog altyd in die teken van die oggend staan, bring Lina Spies en Lucas Malan hier On sestiental essays, gedigte en geleentheidstukke oor die man en sy werk byeen.

Die bydraers is vriende en kollegas wat Aucamp ken en vereer as die skepper van On veelkantige en immer vernuwende oeuvre, maar ook as On gewer by uitnemendheid.

Jack’s life is broken, his marriage estranged. After his failed suicide attempt and rescue by a compassionate stranger, he is forced to face up to the man he has become – a far cry from the man he wants to be. As he grapples with his own big questions, his son’s life hangs in the balance. His wife Brenda, angry and grieving, struggles to open her heart to the man who has betrayed her more times than she can count. As Jack and Brenda’s story unfolds, five trainee guardian angels discover the tough realities of life on earth and prepare to embark on their own journey – to open people’s eyes to God’s presence and love, and his passion to rescue, redeem, and restore. This is the story of how heaven and earth overlap. Of how God waits, patiently and earnestly, in many guises, for his sons and daughters to lift the veil of unawareness and receive his grace. Of how, out of the depths of despair, God can bring healing and hope to a couple who thought all was lost.

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