It is somewhat a rare feat when the voice of a novel’s narrator is so compellingly convincing that the reader has to marvel how it is possible to enter their mind so effortlessly. You will have to forgive Mutch for persuading you to believe that you must be reading a novel, which is based on a first hand-account of events. And yet it is not.
Mutch’s debut novel, “The Housemaid’s Daughter”, recounts the story of Ada, the protagonist in the book, as told through her very own eyes. Set in the midst of the apartheid regime with a time frame spanning from the 1930s through to the 1980s, Mutch refrains from producing a novel, which could essentially be in danger of being read more like a history textbook than a gripping novel. Instead, it is through her presentation of the novel’s characters that author is successfully able to convey the rippling effects of apartheid throughout all corners of society. All the characters are essentially products of their environment and therefore continuously find themselves indirectly or directly affected by the harsh reality of the apartheid regime, no matter what their colour or creed may be.
Ada’s life is arguably portrayed as somewhat of a paradox. On the one hand, apartheid dictates that she is confined to her role as black maid serving a wealthy white family in Cradock, a town in the Karoo in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Yet on the other, she simultaneously finds herself in a more agreeable position in comparison to her black peers, not least because of Miss Cath, the white “Madam” of Cradock House and fellow striving protagonist in the novel, who travels from Ireland to South Africa for the simple purpose of marrying Edward, the Master of Cradock House. Mutch also serves the reader with a narrative from Miss Cath who writes and exposes her most inner thoughts in a diary. In an interesting twist, Miss Cath’s thoughts appear to run parallel to those of Ada and so it would seem that the recurring theme of oppression is not just limited to the most obvious victim. A definitive contestant for the most favourable character in the novel, Miss Cath cultivates an unexpected compassionate relationship between the pair, while possessing a genuine interest in ensuring the welfare of Ada wherever possible.
From her personal and insightful narrative perspective, beginning with her life as a child at the start of the novel to her very last days, the reader is gradually driven to empathise with Ada’s character. In her youth, she struggles to understand the implications of apartheid and finds it somewhat illogical. It is in her days as a young woman that Ada experiences tumultuous points in her relationships with the residents at Cradock House and indeed further afield that will determine her fate and shape the rest of her life. While her life thereafter proves to be forever marred by the consequences of turbulent events, it is the glimpses of hope, resilience and redemption that come to prevail in the cruellest of circumstances and are precisely what makes The Housemaid’s Daughter a captivating and thought-provoking read.
The Housemaid’s Daughter is currently available in hardback, ebook and audio and in paperback from January 2013.
Read an interview with the author Barbara Mutch here
WIN! Stand a chance to win a copy of the book by entering your details below. Competition closes on Thursday 8 November.
Win a copy of The Housemaid’s Daughter.
Who wrote ‘The Housemaid’s Daughter’?
Click here to Book Accommodation in Cradock, Graaf Reinett, Hofmeyer or surrounds.
Article source: http://www.thesouthafrican.com/win/book-review-the-housemaids-daughter-by-barbara-mutch.htm