Violence mingles with bitter comedy in this rich novel about a prodigal’s return to his homeland
Since apartheid ended there has been a spate of returnee novels from South African writers. A prodigal makes a trip home to find a land turned upside down, a dysfunctional family and, more often than not, a disputed farm. What Justin Cartwright has done in Up Against the Night is to turn these stock features into something rich and strange.
Frank McAllister, on the surface at least, is a bona fide Londoner. Over the years he has acquired a comfortable fortune, a vituperative ex-wife, a daughter trying to kick a drugs habit and a gentle Swedish lover with an awkward son. But Frank has bad dreams, often saturated with blood, and these out him for what he really is, a covert South African.
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