TurboBookSnob
Review
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Violence
strikes the fledgling farm, leaving Marit as alone in the world
as Tembi. As conflicts in the world outside the farm steadily
increase, Marit must decide whether to retreat into herself or fight
for the land she never really wanted. The farm is pummeled
by terrorists from bordering countries, as well as by more natural
adversaries.
It is Tembi who encourages
Marit to fight for her farm, giving her the courage to stand tall
as an independent woman in a country where the women leave the hardship
to their men, instead surrounding themselves in a self-indulgent
cocoon of denial and indifference. These local Afrikaner women
are shocked at Marit's transformation, and when it is clear that
she won't be reformed or bullied into conformity, they ostracize
her from the town. Marit is not just obliterated from these
women's social calendars; she is refused service at every establishment
in town.
With each surmounting obstacle, Marit
and Tembi lean on each other, discovering hidden depths of strength
and courage within themselves. Working together to manage
the farm, they form a relationship that surpasses the superficial
ties of race and color. They feel the stronger bond of womanhood
take hold over the weaker division of race. One day events
on the farm surprisingly tease out the lingering vestiges of conflicting
allegiances, and the women are forced to question their relationship
and themselves.
A Blade of Grass is
a powerful and moving novel. Lewis DeSoto's prose is elegant
and evocative. Marit and Tembi are true "righteous babes,"
courageous and strong, fortified by love and loss, sustained by
hope and desire, challenged by violence and heartache. DeSoto's
novel is akin to a blade of grass itself, gentle and yielding in
a soft breeze, yet razor-sharp when wielded with skill. His
scenes are at times chilling and laden with emotion, evoking danger
and sorrow with enough force to clench your heart and seize your
soul.
The TurboBookSnob's heart
ached throughout this moving novel, and when it was finished, she
curled up on her bed in a fetal position, sobbing for these two
women and their hope in the face of daunting tribulations.
It felt as if hundreds of small, sharp rocks had scraped through
her insides, raking her clean through of all possible emotions.
She was left raw, bare, and shaken, alone with the reminder that
no matter how challenging life gets, how imminent despair may seem,
most of us have never faced the horrors endured by the women in
A Blade of Grass, and never will. This novel is a
necessary reminder of positivity; if hope exists for people with
problems far worse than ours, it can certainly exist for us as well.
It is also an important reminder of gratitude. We should give
thanks for our blessings, no matter how impossible the circumstances
may seem.
A Blade of Grass
is a beautiful achievement, and the TurboBookSnob thanks Lewis DeSoto
for creating this masterpiece of a novel, and for touching her heart
so deeply. This is a novel that the Booker Prize could be
proud to count as one of its prestigious winners. It deserves a
spot on this year's shortlist, as well as on the bed table of every
reader.
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