Absolution by Patrick Flanery

Absolution by Patrick Flanery
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Dostoevsky says that everyone remembers things he would only confide to his friends, and other things he would only reveal to himself...But there are other things which a man is afraid to tell even to himself."  In Absolution a first novel about memory and guilt and censorship, the author has produced a stunning, compelling tale of an aging South African author, Clare, and her biographer, Sam, told in multiple points of view.    Absolution brought the country and its tragic past to life as much as anything I've read by  classic authors such asCOETZEE JOHN M. and Nadine Gordimer.  The characters were well-drawn and the plot moved forward sometimes at rapid pace as I flipped ahead, unable to await the resolution of an incident, the clues to a possible future.  The writing is very good and Clare's voice rings true.  I closed the book with satisfaction that reading this book was time well spent and sparked my interest in learning more about the country and people of South Africa (rueing a missed travel opportunity a few years ago).  The author looms large on my radar for future works.  He is a writer to watch.


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