Pivot of Violence: Tales of the New South Africa

In these stories, which make an important contribution to the literary heritage of South Africa, author Roy Holland brings together the atmosphere of violence and change that broods over the harsh world of the old Apartheid South Africa and which still threatens the stability of the New South Africa. Perspectives of both white and black are explored—perspectives of the victims rather than the oppressors where the victims are from both sides of the cultural divide. But the harsh realities are ameliorated by a vein of sympathetic insight, sometimes by a gentle comedy such as that which portrays a pipe-smoking priest, or by a tongue-in-cheek satire as is found in the tale of a well-to-do white woman who is methodically and meticulously covered by her lover's semen. Holland has written a quartette of stories; the other three titles of the quartette are: News from Parched Mountain: Tales from the Karoo in the new South Africa; Flakes of Dark and Light: Tales From Southern Africa and Elsewhere; and Just a Bit Touched: Tales of Perspective. All make a very vivid and lasting impression.