Cry, the Beloved Country
Alan Paton's 1948 novel follows a Black minister searching for his son in Johannesburg, a lament for a South Africa breaking under racial injustice.
Published in 1948, Alan Paton’s novel follows Stephen Kumalo, a Black rural minister, as he travels to Johannesburg to find his sister and his son, only to confront the human cost of a society built on racial division. Written on the eve of formal apartheid, the book is both a personal tragedy and a plea for a broken country. Its lyrical, sorrowful voice made it one of the most influential South African novels.
Recommended by 2 People
Cecile Richards
This book has always had a special place in my heart. It’s incredible to think that this book was written back in the 1940s but it has really stood the test of time, and captures the brutality of life in South Africa and also the incredible complexities of this really extraordinary country.
Interview · July 2011
Oprah Winfrey
The saga of Stephen Kumalo—his struggle as a father, as a reverend, as a brother and as a man—captures the very essence of South Africa.
Book Club · September 2003
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