THE THORN TREES

by John McIntosh ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 8, 1967

The thorn trees grow or rather survive in the God-forsaken country of Bechuanaland, on as lost a landscape, all ""flat horizons and dust devils,"" as any since the early Doris Lessing stories. Edna Ferris is trapped there with an improvident, alcoholic father--her mother had committed suicide, her stepmother had run away--and now her father has taken a native girl into the house and his bed. The house is a pigsty, with mice and cockroaches in the piano, vermin in the waterpipes, scruffy chickens outside. Her only contact is with the mission five miles up the road where Sister Clotilde, says ""forget what you cannot bear."" Edna cannot forget but she does dream--of being ""Marguerite de la Hunt,"" of becoming a doctor, at least a radiologist, and of course of getting away. Which she knows she must, particularly after her father assaults her, and gratefully, perhaps wishfully, she does.... The novel, a first one by a South African, is a little like Edna, both dreamy and downright, making impossible transfers successfully between illusion and reality. It's to be read and remembered with a strong, sympathetic involvement.

Pub Date: March 8, 1967

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt, Brace & World

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1967

Categories: FICTION