BOOK REVIEWS

|MINE BOY|

PETER ABRAHAMS

In Mine Boy, Peter Abraham narrates the story of Xuma, a countryman living in the large, apartheid influenced, South African industrial city of Johannesburg, and the impact the new ways and values of the city have on him. Xuma, a man in transition, is an instrument Abraham uses to capture the mentality, lives and ways of people living in mid-twentieth century South Africa. Because Xuma is new to the system, he finds it hard to dilute and accept the underprivileged and disturbing life he encounters. When he falls into a love triangle that involves Eliza, a beautiful but strange woman, and Maisy, a woman who is carefree yet experienced and mature, he finds himself travelling on a journey of self-discovery and realization. 

Written in 1946, this is one of the first books to draw attention to the lives of black South Africans in a white-dominated country.