Kalahari Passage by Candi Miller

Kalahari Passage

Candi Miller

The phrase ‘love knows no bounds’ is fundamental to this story of Koba – lost to the only family she has ever known. Set in southern Africa in the 1960s, this well-researched and authentic novel really tugs at the heartstrings. As the narrative developed I became immersed in the culture of the Bushmen of the Kalahari – a subject I knew very little about. Beautiful and gripping.

Extract
She was panting now, sobs escaping between snatched breaths. A release. A relief. She'd told her secret to someone, her shame-thing, the one that made her want to crawl away and hide. And N!ai hadn't castigated her. But she found she couldn't look into the Ju/'hoan woman's face for fear of what might be hidden there.
Koba buried her head between her knees again and now she began to sob solidly. She registered N!ai slipping an arm across her shoulders; it swelled her storm.
N!ai rocked Koba for the long time it took the girl to quieten.
Eventually, through hiccups, Koba said: 'Bad-bad things happen to me. I don't know why.'
Parallels
  • Salt and Honey by Candi Miller
  • The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing