Absolution

Along with Disgrace by J M Coetzee and last year's The Dubious Salvation of Jack V. this book seeks to lift the lid on modern South Africa and its relationship with its history of Apartheid and war. Part literary detective story and part treatise on socio-economic conditions, it is a strong debut.

A celebrated novelist is robbed, not for anything of monetary value, but for an item linked to a crime linked to South Africa's past. Years later, when asked to confront her demons for a biography written by Sam Leroux, she is forced to tell her story, weaving fact and fiction, history and lies into a process that sets her and her biographer at odds with each other. It's a dangerous game but will she be held to account for what she has been complicit in? And what does complicit really mean?

The clue is in the title. Absolution. Is that what she seeks or is that to be foist upon her? There are great many questions in Absolution and a lot of moral quandaries thrown the way of the reader. What we're left with is a haunting sense of horror at the things we are capable of. Do we deserve to be absolved of our crimes against each other? This assured debut repeatedly asks that question.