October

Mercia Murray, a 52-year-old English teacher living in Glasgow, has recently been abandoned by her partner of two decades. Distracted from her work and daydreaming about her family back in South Africa, Mercia returns to her hometown of Kliprand, where she must face her alcoholic brother, Jake, his provincial wife, and their five-year-old son, Nicky. As she strikes up a tepid relationship with the boy, Mercia reflects on her childhood—defined by a guilt that “ran like a dye through their days... tingeing all with fear of trespassing and disappointing their virtuous parents”—and finds herself facing truths about her family that have long been hidden. In Jake and Mercia, Wicomb (Playing in the Light) contemplates the meaning of family, the limits of forgiveness, and the deep responsibilities of having children. The novel provides an insightful look at how “memory is bound up with place,” and at what it means to return home. (Mar.)