A moving, confronting, and engrossing work of literature.
Feature image credit: Text Publishing
In a crumbling public housing complex in Cape Town, Dierdre hobbles around on one leg, bumming cigarettes, begging for credit at the local convenience store, and spending what little money she has on booze. To add to the dreary picture of her life, this is also a time of major water shortages and rolling electricity blackouts. With her mother dying in hospital, her brother long vanished, and her daughter now married and living her own life, Dierdre staves off loneliness by nagging her neighbour Miriam for help, and picking up men in the local bar. Just when she thought her life couldn’t get any worse, a policeman arrives to tell her that they have found the remains of several bodies in the garden of her old house.
There is no escaping the fact that Crooked Seeds is a depressing read. If it were a film, it would be described as “gritty”. Yet Karen Jennings manages to find lightness in the quirky joys of many of the characters. This includes Deirdre herself, who, despite exuding pessimism, has an admirable ability to live for the moment. Frustrating, annoying, self-centred, and lazy, Deirdre is still a sympathetic character, and a satisfyingly complex protagonist.
Like much of the post-apartheid literature of South Africa, this story is tinted with disappointment, and with as-yet uncompleted reckonings. Deirdre’s missing brother was a member of a pro-Nationalist terrorist organisation. She herself, like many poor whites, feels ignored and hard done-by. Economically South Africa is a basket-case, with the opening scenes taking place in a queue for water rations.
Jennings writes cleanly and crisply. Her brusque, unfiltered treatment of uncomfortable subject-matter is redolent of fellow South African author, Marlene van Niekerk. Structured around short chapters, Crooked Seeds is a pacy read, but with plenty of substance for pondering. She allows the mystery that underpins the narrative to unfold organically, and leaves just enough questions unanswered to keep the story lingering long after the final page.
You do not need to be of South African background to understand or appreciate the narrative framework. Families are families; poverty is poverty; mental illness is mental illness. It would be disingenuous to say that this story could have taken place anywhere when it is very much of its time and place. But there is universality that runs through Crooked Seeds which makes it very much an international work.
This is simply a sensational piece of writing.
Reviewed by Tracey Korsten
Twitter: @TraceyKorsten
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: Text Publishing
Released: April 2024
RRP: $34.99
More News
