David Le Roux is a schoolteacher living a quiet, peaceful life with his wife, Lydia. They have no children. He also paints and rents a small house to use as his studio – a space that belongs only to him. Every morning he leaves their comfortable flat and goes there to work and paint in solitude. One day, after going out to buy something, he returns to the house and finds a young Black woman there, acting as if she were his wife, and two small children who call him “Daddy.” From that moment on, his life becomes strange and unsettling. The situation forces him to confront painful memories from his past. The novel feels slightly dystopian but remains grounded in reality. It is tender, thoughtful, and ends on a funny note. I really enjoyed this book, which seems quite different from what I understood André Brink usually wrote.
‘Embeth, please! We can sit down and discuss this like grown-ups.’
‘Like hell we can.’ And again she mocked in that high-pitched voice, ‘With a meid, David? David, with a meid?’
‘She was hysterical. They were all unreasonable.’
‘You’re scared. I told you that very first day: you’re scared.’
‘Of what?’
‘Of taking a decision. Of choosing, for once, what you want to do, not your fucking family.’
‘Why should we be in such a hurry? We can take our time.’
‘I can’t see the point of letting this drag on and on.’
‘Let’s first see what happens.’
‘No. You make up your mind. Like now.’
‘It’s not fair.’
‘Then just fuck off.’