“In the desert, in prison or out at sea, Conrad can be a good companion. I found in his pages a way to exorcise, at least in part, the darkest moments of my life” (The Afrikaner”). “There are several subplots that unfold over the 240 pages of Arianna Dagnino’s “The Afrikaner,” not the least of which is racism, and the scar it has left on white/black relationships after apartheid was abolished. Ms. Dagnino’s writing is authoritative and a pleasure to read. The pacing of the novel may be considered “slow” by some, but for me, this is modern literature at its best. As an aside, at one point in the story, Zoe [the main character, a female paleontologist] is gifted by Kurt [the troubled writer] a book to read in the desert: Conrad’s ‘The Secret Sharer,’ which blew me away because I was thinking at the time what a Conradian story ‘The Afrikaner’ is.” Read the whole interview of “The Afrikaner” by author James Fisher here: https://lnkd.in/e3NDpKd