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Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Agaat Marlene van Niekerk, trans. from the Afrikaans by Michiel Heyns. Tin House (PGW, dist.), $19.95 (600p) ISBN 978-0-9825030-9-6

Van Niekerk follows the widely lauded Triomf with a dark, innovative epic that trudges through the depths of a South African farmwife's soul. In 1947, Milla Redelinghuys is determined to turn her wealthy new husband, Jak, into the latest salt-of-the-earth farmer in her family's line. But her demands and manipulative personality cause an early marital rift that only worsens with time. As Van Niekerk follows young Milla through the decades, the author parallels it with the last days of an elderly Milla in 1996—miserable, afflicted with ALS, and reliant on her black maid, Agaat, for survival. Slowly, Milla's story—her abandonment and her masochistic relationship with Agaat—is revealed in all its ugliness. Clearly an allegory for race relations in South Africa, the novel succeeds on numerous other grounds: a rich evocation of family dynamics ; a chilling portrait of bodily and mental decay; and a successful experiment in combining diaries, the second-person, and stream of consciousness. Van Niekerk marshals it all to evoke the resigned mind of a dying woman who realizes, too late, the horrible mistakes that have made her life a waste. (May)

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Soho PressStettin Station Downing, David (Author) ISBN: 1569476349 Soho Press Published 2010-05 Hardcover, $25.00 (320p) Fiction | Literary ; Fiction | Espionage/Intrigue ; Fiction | Historical | General Reviewed 2010-03-08 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

 
Fans of the intelligent WWII thrillers of Alan Furst and Philip Kerr should enjoy Downing's atmospheric and tension-filled third novel featuring Anglo-American journalist John Russell (after "Silesian Station"). By November 1941, Russell has decided that he and his German actress girlfriend, Effi Koenen, need to leave Berlin while they still can, but given Koenen's high public profile, he must find an illegal way to do so. His planning coincides with the escalation of tensions between the U.S. and Japan as well as growing evidence that the Nazis have begun carrying out the Final Solution with the forced transport of Berlin's Jewish community. Russell's complicated life, which includes serving as a courier for the Wehrmacht intelligence service, makes him an obvious candidate for extra scrutiny by the Gestapo, a further obstacle to escaping Germany. With strong, vivid prose, the author maintains a high level of suspense throughout, and makes the reader care about his leads. "(May)" Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.

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