Penguin Random House has shared a video interview with award-winning author Carol Campbell, talking about The Tortoise Cried its Only Tear, her third book on the Karoo.

Like Campbell’s previous work this story is a piece of social realism but, for the first time, Campbell introduces hints of magical realism – which is very much in keeping with the worldview of the people she writes about.

This title is also available in Afrikaans as Die skilpad se enigste traan.

‘One of the joys of writing is that you can build bridges between people, create empathy,’ Campbell says.

‘But you can also go back in time, you can go forward in time, and take your reader with you. It’s a tremendously powerful position to be in! And one that I have great fun and joy in exploring.’

Click on the link above for more about the book!

Watch the video:

https://www.facebook.com/PenguinRandomHouseSA/videos/244700426436255/?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARAEK7wmrGep7Co4q8uUzaBtweTJc6IwaG5n-Ocmqvw0m-GMnW5-MXmZRoFl3Cf4o53a0HC-2Bmgs5JStb5GBBMfNspdV6mIPvpbvHGjq44yoHSHjLuHEkxLrHpEK7OrYrULXezHN3PbHfH4mPDma77Q02BR6ptMy7i4I-qrYQThslqECM5DgaMTUcrzb4fdpYX0Ee6zPD7lWTjK2mtXTuR4OvnvtShx2UQahQ6CgfV-yK3jdV3fs3s49h9V5W0elFdd5P-iwL2OxIq6_Im4dKAWAemRQLIih4ffwy-LRIW4Svwt5kOJh36-TBSnRb4hTcRul_wXsiNfCdJt7tjKAdY5fQnyDXetU2o&__tn__=-R

 

About the book

It’s a black Karoo night and a young woman, covered in blood, is running along a deserted dirt track. A terrible thing has happened and the woman, Siena, has to reach Seekoegat Primary School at the end of the track, the only place she knows that is safe. It’s a long way to run, a three-day ride on a donkey cart.

This is the story of Siena, Boetie and Kriekie, whose lives intersect as children and who meet again as adults: Boetie is a boy running wild. Deprived and neglected he is always up to mischief but his friendship with Siena gives him self-worth. Kriekie is a basket case. As the child of a prostitute working the truck-stops along the n1 he has no home. When his mother, Dolly, doesn’t come back, a small act of kindness by a woman running a shop at the truck-stop sees him end up at Seekoegat Primary.

Plodding steadily through each chapter is the spectre of the ancient Karoo tortoise. Siena’s father, Pa, a karretjiemens, reveres the tortoise as a creature that holds within it the wisdom of the ancient landscape and that cries only one tear when it dies.

Categories Fiction South Africa

Tags Carol Campbell Die skilpad se enigste traan New books New releases Penguin Random House SA The Tortoise Cried its Only Tear Videos