A Blade of Grass (38 page)
I am grateful to my wife, Gunilla Josephson, for her love, her understanding, and her inspiration.
Thanks to my agent, Hilary McMahon, for her early support and encouragement.
Special thanks are due to Phyllis Bruce for her perceptive reading of the manuscript, her wise suggestions, and for finding the title in the text.
In its early stages the writing of this book was supported by grants from the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council.
L
EWIS
D
E
S
OTO
was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. After moving to Canada, he attended the University of British Columbia, where he received a Master of Fine Arts. His writing has been published in numerous literary journals, and he was awarded the
Books in Canada
Writers’ Union Short Prose Award. A past editor of
The Literary Review of Canada
, Lewis DeSoto lives in Toronto and Normandy.
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“
A Blade of Grass
is a novel of the earth…Haunting, intimate [and] compelling.”
—
Quill & Quire
“[The author] writes evocatively…about a wild and natural country that seems both authentic and tragic.”
—
The Globe and Mail
“A significant work of post-colonial literature. A gripping read…that effortlessly places the reader within the pulsating landscape…of South Africa.”
—
The Gazette
(Montreal)
“[The novel] is typical of the painterly delicacy of DeSoto’s prose. [His] descriptions of farm life are timeless…and compelling.
A Blade of Grass
is a bleak, vivid novel…where black and white are anything but.”
—
The Vancouver Sun
“A powerful and compassionate story of belonging and betrayal,
A Blade of Grass
is rich in detail and unflinching in its treatment of apartheid.”
—Helen Humphreys
“Part historical fiction, part war-survival story, [
A Blade of Grass
] is above all an intimate drama of two young South African women…in search of home. DeSoto evokes the elemental landscape with lyrical simplicity.”
—
Booklist
“DeSoto explores the psychological complexity of friendship with absolute authenticity…and the richness of character is matched by the exquisite landscape of Africa.”
—Catherine Gildiner
“
A Blade of Grass
unfolds cascading tragedies…in language [that] is captivating.”
—
National Post
“DeSoto writes lyrically about the African countryside, and delicately reveals the nuances of interracial sexual attraction.”
—
The New York Times
“A splendid first novel…DeSoto is a dynamic new voice on the literary scene.”
—Robert Olen Butler
“DeSoto’s…masterly grasp of the language and the craft of fiction…makes this novel linger in the senses.”
—Gary Geddes
A Blade of Grass
© 2003 by Lewis DeSoto.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © JUNE 2010 ISBN: 978-1-443-40295-8
A Phyllis Bruce Book, published by Harper
Perennial
Canada, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
First published in hardcover by Phyllis Bruce Books and Harper
Flamingo
Canada, imprints of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2003. This paperback edition 2004.
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
www.harpercollins.ca
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication
DeSoto, Lewis
A blade of grass / Lewis DeSoto.–
1st HarperPerennialCanada ed.
“A Phyllis Bruce book”.
I. Title.
PS
8557.
E
84075
B
53 2004
C
813´.6
C
2004-900350-
X
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