Will engage your heart: "Child of the River" by Irma Joubert

Born into squalor, Persomi grew up the middle child of share-croppers eking out their existence on the Fourie farm in a bushveld in South Africa. Her only escape from her reality comes from her reading and her sojourns into the mountains around her home. When Persomi is given the chance to go away to school, a whole other world opens up to her as she realizes that there is more to life than her tiny home in the bushveld. As the years pass, she discovers the reality of racial strife and war and abuse, tempered by a love that faces unimagined challenges.  

"Child of the River" is a compelling, moving story that not only captured my interest from the beginning, but engaged my heart at the same time. Persomi's story is equal parts heart-breaking as inspiring, all at once. I've never encountered a story quite like Persomi's before, one set in the time of the apartheid and yet also captured the essence of life in the bushveld, providing a fascinating (and at times horrifying) backdrop for the story. Watching Persomi grow from her difficult past to become a strong women, I couldn't help but cheer her on in her journey. And then Joubert throws a twist in the story that interrupted the happy ending I was anticipating. The result was a story even better than I expected, a journey that had moments of pain, but ulimately made the joy all the sweeter when the ending came. "Child of the River" is very well written, and fans of historical fiction are going to want to add this book to their collection. It is a truly unique story that captures the flavour of a different land and a fractured past, offering needed lessons to us all as we move into the future. This is one of those stories that I am going to return to again and again!

I strongly recommend this book and award it 5 out of 5 stars.

Book has been provided courtesy of the Booklook Bloggers review program. Available from your favorite book retailer from Thomas Nelson, a division of HarperCollins.

 about the author...

International bestselling author Irma Joubert was a history teacher for 35 years before she began writing. Her stories are known for their deep insight into personal relationships and rich historical detail. She’s the author of eight novels and a regular fixture on bestseller lists in The Netherlands and in her native South Africa. She is the winner of the 2010 ATKV Prize for Romance Novels. Facebook: irmajoubertpage

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