Mother to Mother

The violent death of a young American woman in a far-off land is the basis for this novel.. "When Amy Elizabeth Biehl, a Fulbright scholar helping to organize free elections, was murdered in the black township of Guguletu, South Africa, the universal response was outrage. How could this have happene [...]
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The violent death of a young American woman in a far-off land is the basis for this novel.. "When Amy Elizabeth Biehl, a Fulbright scholar helping to organize free elections, was murdered in the black township of Guguletu, South Africa, the universal response was outrage. How could this have happened? Sindiwe Magona, who raised her young children just steps away from the site of Amy's death, dares to imagine the answer to that question.. "As the writer Andre Brink has written: "Magona sets herself a daunting challenge at the crossroads of story and history by taking as her point of departure the murder of Amy Biehl ... while assuming the voice of the fictitious mother of one of the youths implicated in the event in order to address herself directly to Biehl's mother. Nothing could be simpler than the opening statement, 'My son killed your daughter' Nothing can be more complicated than what flows from it.". "In telling the story of Mandisa, Magona plunges us into a world of displacement and loss, but one imbued nonetheless with spirit and hope. Her South Africa is the land of Apartheid, but also one of rich cultures with strong tribal traditions.. "Amy Biehl's parents, Peter and Linda Biehl, have said that this novel "presents a true slice of South African Black township life, which we had to experience in order to understand Amy's young killers.".